Aussie rapper Briggs has sent a letter to the Melbourne Storm announcing he is cutting ties with the NRL club.
His letter comes after it was revealed Brett Ralph, a member on the club’s board of directors, was listed as a major contributor to the ‘No’ vote campaign during this month’s Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.
According to The Age, Ralph contributed $75,000 to the campaign despite the Melbourne Storm’s public stand with the NRL in supporting the proposal — which was voted down in a landslide result.
Briggs, whose real name is Adam Briggs, went viral on social media earlier this month for posting a short video, explaining what the ‘Yes’ vote actually stood for.
The NRL was one of 20 national sporting bodies that made a public, “unprecedented” stand together to support the Indigenous Voice to Parliament proposal earlier this year.
The donations made by Ralph, a sporting investment giant who has a 20 per cent stake in the team, were first made public in September, and Briggs is reported to have immediately registered his concerns about the development with Storm chief executive Justin Rodski on September 16.
According to the report, the proud Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri man wrote the letter to Storm chairman Matt Tripp four weeks later as a result of the club’s public inaction around the issue.
Briggs, with the support of the club, has reportedly agreed to meet with club bosses and Ralph to address his decision to denounce the club that he has supported for more than 20 years.
The 37-year-old’s letter suggests there is a deep divide between the parties.
“I am writing to inform you that I will be rescinding my support for the Melbourne Storm Rugby League club, he wrote.
“I have been a proud supporter of the Melbourne Storm since it was established, along with my father Paul Briggs.
We have both developed lasting friendships within the club at all levels, from the playing field to the board table. I am a regular at Storm games and a vocal champion of the club on social & traditional media.
“My sadness and disappointment with the Storm stems from the Board’s failure to unify in support for The Voice to Parliament. Both the NRL and Storm have a big Polynesian, South Sea Islander and First Nations player participation on field which does not extend off field.”
He wrote in the letter he had earlier told Rodski he was “dismayed” to learn about Ralph’s
“The No campaign actively devalued my people and my Yorta Yorta /Wurundjeri identity,” he wrote in the letter.
“It has heightened the stereotypes of devaluing our contribution to the Australian society and nationhood, and enhanced the burden of irrelevance.
“In doing so, it added to the already endless workload of myself, my father, and the Indigenous community.
“A donation to ‘No’ was a donation to peddle and amplify misinformation and fearmongering against Indigenous people.”
His letter called on the club to act on its publicly stated beliefs in support of the proposal.
The club has since responded with a public statement saying Ralph is entitled to his personal views.
“Brett (Ralph) has never used Melbourne Storm, or its players or staff, to express or promote his personal views on public or private matters,” a statement from the club said.
“Like all Australians, Brett is entitled to hold an opinion on matters important to him and, as a club, we do not instruct him — or others — to form a position that should be his to make.”
Sixty per cent of Australian voters agreed with the campaign Ralph financially backed.
However, Briggs was one of the highest-profile voices that spoke out after the referendum proposal was rejected.
“Whatever happens; there’s a line in the sand,” he posted on Twitter.
“We’ll remember who stood up and did the most.
“There was always going to be work to be done, and now we’ll know where to spend our energy.”
Ralph also owns stakes in the Melbourne United NBL team and the Melbourne Aces baseball team.
The NRL has been rocked since the vote with players seen refusing to sing the national anthem during the Kangaroos’ win over Samoa in the Pacific Championships last week.
Several Australian rugby league players, including Kotoni Staggs, Payne Haas and Selwyn Cobbo, were seen silent while the national anthem was played, resulting in criticism from high profile figures, including former Australian Test captain Max Krilich.
Rabbitohs superstar Latrell Mitchell earlier this week slammed Krilich on social media, saying the anthem does not include First Nations people.