As the clock ticked on the cut-off for rugby league registrations last month, Mitch and Saraya White thought it would be nice to sign up their six-year-old son, Oscar, for the rest of the season.
As foundation members of the NRL’s newest club, the Dolphins, rugby league is about the only sport they sit down and watch as a family.
“Oscar thinks it’s great,” Saraya said. “He plays in the backyard with his dad, his uncles and cousins. It’s great fun and he can get a lot of energy out of his system.”
Unbeknown to them, the Whites only just managed to get Oscar’s registration complete in time to play this year – but an even bigger surprise was when they were told he was the 200,000th player to sign up for the sport in Australia in 2024.
It’s the first time rugby league has reached the milestone.
Oscar has joined one of three Norths Devils under-6s teams in Brisbane, and his parents have bought gold boots to match the colour of his team.
North Devils under-6s player Oscar White, the 200,000th player registered to play rugby league in Australia in 2024, with Brisbane Broncos fullback Reece Walsh.
He will play his first game on Sunday, but only after getting the chance to meet Reece Walsh and the rest of his Broncos teammates last week as rugby league’s milestone registration.
He was then on the sidelines to watch them warm up for the clash against the Panthers at Suncorp Stadium in round 18.
“He was pretty awestruck,” Saraya said. “It’s been fantastic, and he just loves rugby league.”
Rugby league registrations have steadily been growing during the past decade from just shy of 170,000 in 2015 to the current record level.
The pandemic, understandably, resulted in a decrease in player registrations to 145,000 in 2020, but the numbers have been on the rise since.
While rugby league strongholds NSW (117,282) and Queensland (70,903) are the backbone of the strong numbers, the NRL is most pleased with its growth in Victoria, which has 5545 registered club participants this year, an increase from 3345 in 2021.
Female registrations have almost doubled from 24,163 three years ago to 44,546.
“Club registered participation is the heart and soul of any sport,” NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said.
“For our sport it represents mums and dads, coaches, referees, boys and girls from all over the country playing in a club competition and belonging to a community.
“It’s the lifeblood of sport, and to be able to hit 200,000 is an exciting milestone for us. It’s a celebration of the hard work that everyone, particularly our volunteers and our participation and game development staff across the country, has put into providing quality experiences for our players.
“It’s also an opportunity to thank everyone involved, from those running the barbecues on Saturday mornings to those running the League Stars programs in the afternoons after school. Everyone has contributed.”
Rugby League Brisbane remains the biggest junior nursery, but the massive numbers playing the game in Penrith (8342), the Hunter (7516), Gold Coast (6697) and Central Coast (5532) have also contributed to the sport’s record-breaking year.
The Panthers have used the production line of young talent coming out of Sydney’s west to win the past three NRL premierships – and they are favourites to win a fourth in October.
“This is a special milestone, but we are not stopping here and will continue to drive these improvements because we know more participants means the game is making a difference in the community,” Abdo said.
“It is bringing people together, providing them the benefit of belonging to a club and ultimately these are the future fans of rugby league.”
And the numbers of kids playing the game will be crucial as the NRL embarks on its biggest expansion project yet for its elite competition, with plans to increase to 20 teams within the next decade.
Perth is the favourite to be the 18th franchise – potentially as soon as 2027 – while a $600 million Australian government-backed Papua New Guinea team and a second team from New Zealand are contenders for the other two licences.
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