My preferred is football. I do like Rugby Union and Rugby League, tolerate is the word for AFL. What truth. The stats are there, I did not make them up. That would be the reply from someone who read the truth, did not like them and turned on the messenger.
Rugby league and rugby union's problem is one of perception; Many mums see little Johnny who might be in the Under 8's and weigh 30kg come up against Sammy the Islander kid, who weighs double the weight. The perception, rightly or wrongly is that Johhny will get hurt. This is the unfortunate thinking both rugby codes have. Football has always had a negative image in AUS and USA but thats about it. The Beautiful Game appeals to all body types, even girls up to the age of 12. That is one hell of an advantage! (Some say that rugby (union and league) ) was invented for those not skillful enough for football!
Sorry... I know this was a few pages back but I had to pull you up here...
You are correct about perception, that part is true because in actual fact League is one of the safest junior sports in Australia - even safer than netball.
For future reference, please remember that girls are allowe to play League with boys until Under 10s, and then a lot of districts have all-girl competitions - such as the Parramatta District - just like your 'beautiful game'.
Now I'm not normally one to pull up typos or poor grammar, but this is just disgraceful and an example of why there is no brain in your head. Reading that sentence would mean your sentence starts with "was invented...". Learn how to use brackets.
Furthermore, as much as you would like to keep saying your statistics are superior, speak to any academic researcher and they will say 2003 stats are terribly out of date when talking about a contemporary issue. Furthermore, they will also tell you that you do not neglect the statistics that would be released by the organisation itself either - in this case the NRL. The way they are presented may demonstrate bias, but the actual statistics won't - they will say how they calculated them. In addition, you will find that the ABS aren't the number one source of statistics academic researchers will turn to as they a very impersonal and do not account for misunderstandings of the questions. For example, if someone is asked 'does your son/daughter play soccer on the weekend?' you would get a different answer to 'does your son/daughter play soccer in a local competition on the weekend that is run through the organisational structure of Football Australia?'
No one is saying the game is the best position it could be - it could be FAR better. But coming in and presenting 5 year old statistics may satisfy your school teacher, however it does not provide sufficient up to date evidence for any form of researcher....
You don't happen to work for the telegraph do you?
