Half time in the traditional Roosters v Dragons Anzac Day clash will include an Anzac tribute with a performance of Diggers' songs from World War 1.

While songs such as "Pack Up Your Troubles in your Old Kit Bag" and "Long Way to Tipperary" are still familiar and rightly associated with the era, the soldiers in the front line would often make up their own versions of popular songs of the time to entertain themselves and keep their spirits up.

They wrote light hearted parodies and songs about the horrors of war, and would even poke fun at their own desire for peace. They also satirised their superior officers, the military system, and even their comrades in other parts of the service.

The songs are:
"It's a Long Way Back To Sydney" to the tune on "It's a Long Way To Tipperary"
"The Brigadier Gets THe Turkey" to the tune of "Wee Deoch And Doris"
"The Song of The Infantry" to the tune of "Botany Bay"
"I Want To Go Home" & "Pack Up Your Troubles", two very popular war time songs.

Singer Denis Carnahan, who is best known to League fans for his own parodies on Fox Sports Monday Night Post Game Show and The Matty Johns Show, has searched through collections in The Australian War Memorial, as well as The National Library and Mitchell Library, and will sing a medley of some of the songs he found, along with classic songs of the era.

"There was some fantastic material in the collections" Carnahan said. "It gave an amazing insight into the spirit of the soldiers, and how they used humour in the darkest circumstances to reduce their distress and fear."

The research had a personal significance for Carnahan, who's paternal grandfather landed at Gallipoli, while both his paternal and maternal grandfathers survived The Somme.