8 Feb 2022

Kangaroos to have their version of the haka

7:34 am on 8 February 2022
Mal Meninga is the one five NRL immortals inducted this year

Mal Meninga is the one five NRL immortals inducted this year Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2017 www.photosport.nz

The Rugby League Players Association has backed a "respectful process" to consider the Kangaroos performing the dance.

NRL Indigenous pathways manager Dean Widders said senior players were already discussing the move.

The unity dance has been developed over the past decade by Widders and others in the Indigenous All-Stars program.

The Indigenous All-Stars play New Zealand Maori All-Stars in the traditional curtain-raiser to the NRL season this Saturday.

Rugby League Players Association chief executive Clint Newton believes players want to promote Indigenous culture.

"Rugby league is cloaked in a rich history of indigenous people who have contributed so greatly to the game," he said.

"We are happy to support a respectful process that works toward getting to a point where all relevant stakeholders can put forward their views safely, and all those views are treated with compassion and care."

An acknowledgement of country, which borrowed some aspects of the unity dance, was adopted by Cameron Smith and the Kangaroos in the 2017 World Cup.

In the Araatika: Rise Up! documentary, which recently screened on SBS, Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga expressed his view that this gesture didn't quite hit the mark.

"It wasn't really widely accepted, was it, what we did because there wasn't really an understanding of what we were trying to do," he said.

"We were genuine, but it didn't get any traction because no one understood it."

Widders praised the efforts of that side and sees this year's World Cup in England as the next opportunity to refine the team's pre-match routine.

"What Cam Smith and those players did, you've got to give them a lot of credit, it was brave and they put the effort in to do it," he said.

"They would have felt a little bit uncomfortable after it, because it didn't hit a spot and it didn't have an impact on them.

"But I think the hunger, or desire to do something bigger is there, the conversations have started, we just need to make sure we get it perfect and hit it right when it is done."

New Bulldogs signing Josh Addo-Carr is expected to lead the dance this weekend against the New Zealand Maori All Stars given Latrell Mitchell will miss the match due to suspension.

Widders says he has been receiving feedback from players and they're ready to get behind the unity dance.

"I don't think it's a matter of will they or won't they, I think it's a matter of when," he said.

"One or our sporting codes will do it soon, I'd love to see it be rugby league."

-ABC