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So I decided to do a bit more googling as the more i think about it, that figure seems sketchy..
I came up with this..
A fortnight after the ARU was forced to issue a statement saying it “strongly rejects” Roy Morgan research, which claimed regular participation numbers fell more than 60% over 15 years, to just 55,000 active players, the organisation’s 2016 annual report claimed total participation was up 2.1% (5,632) to 273,095.
So who knows how many there actually is?
But anyway, who cares? If national performance was based on the number of local players, New Zealand would be about 5th in the world.. Which is clearly not the case.
Ref; https://www.businessinsider.com.au/a...xed-bag-2017-4