YORK KNIGHTS welcomed a delegation from Penrith Panthers as the collaboration between the two clubs and Newcastle Thunder stepped up a gear.
The LNER Stadium side, owned and chaired by Australian Clint Goodchild, and the NRL powerhouse have had links since last year.
And in June, the pair announced the three-year “high performance and pathways partnership” also including the League One club.
A major aim is to bolster Rugby League development pathways in the north-east, while York are supplying Newcastle with dual-registration players.
Meanwhile former Thunder coach Chris Thorman is now working on Mark Applegarth’s staff at the Knights.
Thorman, 44, had a three-season playing spell at York from 2010 to 2012, combining his halfback role with coaching the team in the last of those years.
Applegarth’s side won 19-12 against Halifax at the Panthers’ temporary Bradford base on Friday. The Knights have now won eleven in a row in the league.
Former New Zealand Warriors, Huddersfield, Newcastle Thunder and Tonga prop Ukuma Ta’ai is one off 350 career appearances.