A senior Wurundjeri Elder and great-great niece of William Barak was prevented from delivering the Welcome to Country before an NRL game on Friday night.

Set to be delivered by Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin at the NRL game between the Melbourne Storm and South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Welcome to Country was cancelled at short notice in the wake of earlier protests at an Anzac Day ceremony.

Performances from Djirri Djirri, a Wurundjeri dance group, the Maori Ngā Mātai Pūrua, were also planned, but none took place before the game.

It comes after a "racist attack" against a Welcome to Country performed by an Elder at a Naarm Anzac Day dawn service, which was widely condemned by leaders across the political spectrum, once again bringing the peaceful 'welcome' into the spotlight.

Hecklers - allegedly led by a known neo-Nazi - shouted over Bunurong Elder Uncle Mark Brown at the city's Shrine of Remembrance on Friday morning, leading to widespread criticism from the Prime Minister, Opposition leader and Victorian Premier, as well First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria co-chairs Rueben Berg and Ngarra Murray.

In a statement, Aunty Joy and Djirri Djjiri said the Melbourne Storm chief executive told them the board "didn't feel comfortable" with the Welcome to Country after the booing earlier in the day. The statement said the board were "happy" for them to still "dance to represent the 'Welcome'".

"We were in shock and disbelief," they said.

It is understood the Storm then apologised and reversed their decision. However, Aunty Joy told National Indigenous Times all parties declined to take part, "even after the Storm asked us to reconsider".

"We strongly regard this as being totally tokenistic and goes completely against their [Melbourne Storm's] journey of reconciliation…[we] feel very disrespected," Aunty Joy and Djirri Djjiri said in a statement.

"What we do isn't a performance, it's cultural ceremony and protocol. We strongly feel this action was unnecessary and has caused hurt and disbelief in what we thought was a good relationship with Melbourne Storm."

Last year, the Melbourne Storm announced they would review regular Welcome to Country ceremonies. Still, it was reported they would continue with the small ceremony conducted by Elders before the NRL's Indigenous Round and Anzac Day.

After the Anzac ceremony and national anthems of both Australia and New Zealand, a Welcome to Country did not occur before the game.

In a statement, the Storm said, "There was a miscommunication of expectations regarding the use Welcome to Country at Melbourne Storm events throughout the year."

"We acknowledge and accept the timing and miscommunication was not ideal and we have spoken to the groups concerned this afternoon."

Aunty Joy has been welcoming people onto Wurundjeri land for more than 40 years, including Queen Elizabeth II, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama.

"The Welcome to Country is a very important ceremony for our people," she said in 2023.

Aunty Joy's father, Jarlo Wandoon, fought for Australia in the First World War.

Having previously been turned down for enlistment as an Aboriginal Australian, legend has it he eventually was accepted as an African American.

She told The Age on Friday: "I don't think anyone should disrespect anything that happens on Anzac Day."

In 2023, Aunty Joy was prevented from performing a Welcome to Country ceremony for Barack Obama because she was allegedly being "too difficult". The organisers later apologised and reinstated her.

"The organisers rang and apologised and re-invited me to perform a Welcome today. I have accepted their apology and will receive President Obama on behalf of my people," she said at the time.

National Indigenous Times has viewed several racist, unmoderated comments on media platforms supporting Friday morning's hecklers, which interrupted the Welcome to Country and were heard to yell, "What about the Anzacs?" and, "It's our country … We don't have to be welcomed."

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said of the booing: "We have a proud Indigenous heritage in this country, and we should be proud to celebrate it as part of today."

"We should always remember too that and remind ourselves, as we did at the Opera House last night, that Indigenous Australians played a very significant part [in Australia's military history] and still do today in the ranks of the Australian defence force," Mr Dutton said.