NRL players 'great mates'

The North Queensland Cowboys league club insist their Kiwi connection James Tamou and Steve Rapira are "great mates" again, despite a fight between the pair which saw Rapira sent for x-rays.

Cowboys chief executive Peter Parr confirmed the former Junior Kiwis forwards traded punches in the Townsville flat they share.

Parr denied that Rapira, the club's rookie-of-the-year, had his jaw broken by Tamou.