NRL star Kyle Turner helping to preserve Indigenous languages

Rugby league star Kyle Turner is lending a hand to ensure Indigenous communities preserve their traditional languages.

File image of Rabbitohs player Kyle Turner from the 2016 season Source: AAP

The South Sydney Rabbitohs player helped launch a new Indigenous language book called 'Brush with Kyle', which is one in a series of books under the NRL's 'Rugby League Reads' banner. 

A video link at NRL HQ with five regional schools today gave Indigenous students the chance to see their hero and hear the book read in their own Gamilaraay language.

Five regional schools link up with NRL HQ for the 'Brush with Kyle' book launch (SBS) Source: SBS

Turner, who grew up around Coonabarabran in Northern NSW, said: "I'm happy to keep the culture strong for the younger generations."

With many Indigenous languages in danger of being lost, the latest in the NRL series will go some way to halting the slide.

For the first time, the NSW government has come on board to co-fund the initiative.

NSW Aboriginal Affairs Minister Leslie Williams wanted her state to ensure Indigenous languages survived. 

"We will have legislation introduced next year that will not only protect but revitalise languages across the state," she told SBS.

Turner, far right (SBS) Source: SBS

"We will revitalise Aboriginal languages across the state."

After winning the NRL premiership with South Sydney in 2014, Turner knows what it takes to succeed.

But with the next season still four months away, he told SBS he's proud to be promoting a healthy lifestyle and the importance of reading.

"It's about being strong mentally. The more you know the better you are."

The NRL said it wanted to have more of it's 'Rugby League Reads' books translated into Indigenous languages.