The New Zealand Warriors have thrown their support behind New Zealand sign language week by hosting a group from Deaf Aotearoa today and playing a friendly game of touch.

The NRL players got a taste of what it was like to play deaf rugby by using sign language only.

"It can be quite difficult for the referee to sort of manage what is going on, like if there is a scrum or anything else that happens," said Deaf Aotearoa's Phillip King.

"So we wave our hands or use a flag and then we can see that something is going on and then we'll stop the game. But most of the time we just play as normal and carry on with the game and it’s just like normal hearing rugby."