Kangaroos planning rugby league world cup war cry

In this first look behind the scenes, Johnathan Thurston explains the origin of the Australian Kangaroos War Cry.

Thurston will lead the team through is a pre-game performance at the World Cup in a tribute to the nation's indigenous heritage.

"At the Anzac Test at the start of the year Mal wanted to have a discussion about doing something for the World Cup," Thurston told NRL.com.

"All the boys had a healthy discussion about what we wanted to do. We didn't know what it was going to be.

"While all the boys were on board for doing something we just weren't quite sure how we were going to roll out what we were going to do.

"I went home and was injured for a while. I was back and forth with Mal and I wrote something down and sent it through to Mal. He loved it.

"It's stuff about what we spoke about at the Anzac Test. The chevron, the coat of arms, the acknowledgement to country but also what we're trying to do with the RISE campaign."