The star midfielder and the North Ballarat Roosters have agreed to terms, ending a tense six-month standoff that became one of the biggest talking points in the Ballarat Football League.

Given Horbury continues training with North Ballarat for the entire season, he will be cleared to return to his home club each week, starting with Saturday's round four clash against Ballarat.

However, he will not be cleared to pull on the maroon and gold for today's top-of-the-ladder match against Darley.

Horbury had signed a contract to play for the Roosters this year, but had been fighting since November to instead be freed to play in the BFL for Redan.

North Ballarat Sports Club chief executive officer Mark Patterson said an agreement had been reached that allowed Horbury to play for the GJ Gardner Lions.

The Courier understands the agreement involved Horbury taking part in at least six full training sessions with the Roosters before he was cleared to play, in addition to continued participation in training throughout the year.

It is understood Horbury has trained with North Ballarat five times, meaning he will be cleared next week should he continue training.

Patterson said it was good to put the issue to bed, but did not indicate if Horbury was likely to play for North Ballarat again.

"It often takes a reasonable amount of time to sort out contractual disputes and they are never easy to work out," he said.

Patterson also said he did not feel the relationship between North Ballarat and Redan had been damaged.

"We've always seen it as an issue between Nathan and us, not Redan as such," Patterson said.

"Nathan's a fine young man who has been understanding and respectful the whole time."

Redan football manager Damian Linton said it was disappointing Horbury had not been fully released from the contract, but the club had agreed to terms in order get him playing football as soon as possible.

Linton also said he believed there should be a rule in place that made it easier for players to return back to their home clubs from higher levels of football.

"I'll be looking at the process with all our players that are considering playing at VFL level and making sure they know all the ins and outs," Linton said.

"I'm not happy at all, I'm disappointed he hasn't been fully released from his contract. It's great he can play, but he has missed three weeks and it would have been great if they could have worked this out earlier."

Redan currently sit undefeated after two rounds, having pulled off an upset to knock off reigning premiers North Ballarat City last week.