Thurston calls for Indigenous tours

Kangaroos legend Jonathan Thurston has called for the Indigenous All Stars to tour internationally, and help to spread awareness of Australian indigenous culture.

The Indigenous is set to play against the NRL All Stars in the usual NRL season opener in Newcastle this weekend.

Although many leading indigenous Australian players love the concept and insist that it must stay as part of the calendar, there have been calls for it to be pulled from a busy schedule.

The game will go on hiatus next year due to the World Cup, but Thurston wants to see the concept expanded, not abandoned.

He would like to see the side play proper internationals, in the manner of the New Zealand Maori team.

“The pre-season is pretty hectic with a lot of games and club games and the World Cup at the end of this year,” Thurston said.

“A dream of mine for the future is to have an indigenous side play a Maori side or a Scotland side or something like that and we can take our culture and bring it to life in other areas of the world.

“We’re passionate and we have a lot of history and, if we can take that to other countries around the world, then that’d be a great thing.”