Rugby League Northland and the Northland Rugby Union are reinstating a reciprocal agreement which addresses issues of players jumping between codes after suffering concussion or being stood down for disciplinary reasons.
Shaking hands this week, Northland's rugby league and rugby union bosses, Duane Fyfe and Jeremy Parkinson, were keen tocontinue the reciprocal agreement after a successful trial year in 2015.
"There's no changes, we're just continuing the good communications between the two codes," NRU chief executive Jeremy Parkinson said.
"Obviously ourselves and league are in competition, but it's about working together for two reasons; one being player welfare, and the second part of it being judiciary for players who are stood down."
One of the key aspects of the agreement, a first for New Zealand after its inception last year, is to discourage the "heroic" tag surrounding concussion victims playing on.
By re-confirming the agreement for 2016 with regards to concussion and suspension stand-downs, where players who are stood down for either code are not able to play either game while they are serving their stand-down periods, RLN general manager Duane Fyfe said that both codes would be better off for it.
"It's a positive collaboration coming together for the sake of player welfare," he said.
