NRL in push for Victorian kids as code popularity explodes

The NRL is pushing to expand its footprint in Victoria, as kids across the state are being turned away from playing as the code’s popularity explodes.

Victorian kids are being turned away from playing NRL at alarming rates as the sport’s popularity explodes across the state.

During a whistlestop tour of Melbourne this week, NRL Commissioner Kate Jones met with key Ministers and the opposition as she lobbied to expand the sport’s local footprint.

“We are hearing loud and clear through our own data, our own metrics and our own clubs that more kids want to be playing rugby league than ever before,” she told the Herald Sun.

“Victoria is our fastest growing area in the country. It’s growing really rapidly and this year we’re actually having to turn kids away because we’re growing too fast to the need.”

NRL Commissioner Kate Jones with Sport Minister Steve Dimopoulos. Picture: Supplied

The popularity boom has largely driven by the success of the Melbourne Storm but also changing demographics which has seen new families from diverse communities move into growth corridors.

“Yes there’s the diehard AFL fans, there always will be, but there are new families and new communities where the number one code is NRL,” she said.

But the sport – which is the dominant professional football code in New South Wales and Queensland – is plagued by a lack of infrastructure in Victoria.

Ms Jones, a former Labor Minister in Queensland, said the NRL was trying to model what the AFL had done in bringing their game into other states.

“We are in here for the long haul, we’re taking Victoria seriously and we want to grow here,” she said, adding that rugby had an ace that its code rival didn’t.

“We are growing our international footprint. We’re lobbying to get touch at the Olympics. The AFL will never be at the Olympics, I hate to break it to you,” she laughed.

Tourism, Sport and Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos, who met with Ms Jones on Thursday, said the government was keen to see NRL succeed in Victoria.

“We’re the sports capital of the nation so of course it makes sense that we’d want to help them grow here,” he said.

Originally published as NRL in push for Victorian kids as code popularity explodes