League: Jones' boys feature in new look season

Stacey Jones' Vodafone Warriors Development Team will be part of the curtain raiser for the Rugby League Northland Premiership kick-off later this month.

The Warriors will face the Adam Blair XIII, a Northland secondary schools selection, before a rematch of last year's grand final is played in the main event at Lindvart Park when the Hikurangi Stags take on the Moerewa Tigers on March 30, the Tigers looking for revenge after their defeat to back-to-back premiers the Stags.

Rugby league in Northland has been overhauled over the past year, and later this month the rewards should be seen.

This year's Rugby League Northland Premiership is under new management with Rugby League Northland Zone of NZRL Incorporated taking over from Whangarei City District Rugby League.

Previously Rugby League Northland has not managed all of its competitions but will now manage all rugby league from under-7s through to Premiers - hopefully meaning the new management will be able to deliver a more strategically aligned approach to developing rugby league in Northland.

As part of the new structure, Rugby League Northland will take a unified approach to marketing and promotions, with a new website and Facebook page in the making that will have all draws and results updated weekly.

The Rugby League Northland Premiership will involve 12 clubs and will be played in two pools of six - North and South.

Each pool will play a double round robin with one round of crossover fixtures, aiming to dramatically reduce the demand on clubs' finances due to reduced travel.

There will be 16 fixtures in total of pool play, with three weeks allocated to finals, with the grand final scheduled for August 10.

The season opening double-header will be the only games played during Easter weekend with the rest of the Premiership kicking off the following weekend on April 6.