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The NRL has changed the way players will be punished for foul play in representative football, lessening the chance of bans carrying into club football.

The NRL has loosened the judiciary rules around representative games in a bid to ensure players do not miss club matches for most on-field offences.

Under new rules announced on Friday, players will be able to take fines for all but the most serious offences in representative matches and still be allowed to play the next week in the NRL.

Representative matches will also now count to club bans if a player had likely been selected, avoiding a repeat of the All Stars drama earlier in the year around Latrell Mitchell.

The NRL has also offered players some reprieve around finals time, with fines now available for a grade-one charge if a player has committed two previous offences in the regular season.

Under previous rules, players would not have had that option and been rubbed out of games for some grade-one charges.

But it is the new representative rules that will raise the most eyebrows.

With the exception of reckless high tackles, all grade-one and grade-two charges will now lead to players fined a percentage of their match fee in the representative arena.

It means a grade-two crusher tackle or shoulder charge in State of Origin will only result in a fine, instead of what would have been a base penalty of three matches last year.

But the NRL does not want the rule changes to create an open-slather environment.

The governing body is adamant that any reckless or intentional act will result in bans, confirming the match review committee's power to hand out grade-three charges or straight-to-judiciary referrals,

The changes are believed to have come about in a bid to soften the blow for clubs, who release players to representative duty and risk being punished for foul play committed in those matches.

Crucially, the NRL saw an option of fining players a percentage of their match fee rather than a set amount as a way to establish fairness across different levels.

For instance, State of Origin players are paid $15,000 per game this year, while Test players for second-tier nations receive far less than that.