Wright, who worked as a dance instructor after leaving school, will begin work on the Aboriginal war cry as soon his commitments with the Sharks are finished and has begun compiling video clips with some ideas before a gathering of players next month.

Others, including Brisbane's Sam Thaiday, Parramatta's Luke Kelly and Melbourne's Will Chambers, have also been asked for input as the players want to ensure all parts of Australia are represented in the dance, which they hope will will eventually have the same significance for Australians as the haka does for New Zealanders.

Thaiday is a Torres Strait Islander, while Kelly and Chambers are from the Northern Territory.

"A lot of boys are from different areas so, if we can come together and make our own one up, it will be great," said Wright, who is from Gilgandra in NSW's central west.

"If we can design something that represents us as a code and as players in the NRL, we can use it and then other people can adapt to it and use it too."

The idea was first raised at this year's indigenous player camp in the Hunter Valley and it is envisaged that the war cry will be finalised when they come together again before February's 2015 All Stars match.

The players believe that, if the dance is performed regularly, it will eventually become a part of Australian culture and hope the Kangaroos adopt the war cry before Test matches – as touring teams did between 1908 and 1967.

"I am excited about it, it is going to be really good," Storm forward George Rose said. "Hopefully we have all got our dancing shoes on for the All Stars game."

The All Stars game was conceived by former Gold Coast star Preston Campbell and chief executive Michael Searle to raise awareness of shorter life expectancy for Aboriginal Australians and the NRL will use this weekend's round of matches to promote the Close the Gap campaign.

For Rose, who is considered a leader among the 12 per cent of indigenous players in the NRL, the round has personal significance as his father died at just 40 years of age.

"He was fit and active, he played footy, he played touch, he played squash, he played a bit of everything so for him to die so young was a rude shock for all of us," Rose said.

The NRL has launched an advertisement featuring former Queensland halfback Scott Prince and several other players, which points out that the average life expectancy of Aborigines is 10 to 17 years less than other Australians, with babies three times more likely to die before the age of one.

"It is very scary and for the NRL to be able to push this issue is huge because the NRL has such a wide reach and a lot of people pay attention when the NRL is involved in something," said Rose, who is off contract with Melbourne at the end of the season but wants to continue playing in the NRL.