gingerjon

The women's game is still in its C B Fry era. It won't be for much longer.

This is a useful corrective to the flights of fancy we can all fall prey to.

New one for me: asked to pick the official player of the match in my role as club photographer. It was Rosie Muggeridge, since you ask.

AFLW is doing pretty well for stand alone attendance and participation - it's just very obviously at the (being kind) embryonic stage in terms of having enough quality players on the field. The recent season was a bit of a car crash but seems to have done okay for attendances considering. NRLW is a real success and shows that when you have competitive RL, it's an almost unbeatable sport to watch. Double headers are a sign of cowardice in taking it further.

The difference between, say, the ongoing NRL plans which balances the league's own strategy, that of the local governments, the resources the people involved in each consortium, with the limited number of places available versus "there's some blokes who can get on that new pitch in Goole". It's not the same.

The Copa Libertadores on BBC Three is not disappointing so far. Ten man Botafogo leading 2-0 heading to half time.

Right now, on Sky, you can watch South Carolina at Clemson which has 81,500 people in the stands.

About that ... was listening to Five Live earlier ... someone lamenting that for the Champions League they don't put the big screen on. "UEFA standard" right there.

Why do we want to appeal to families in Yeovil? I'm just not seeing any real difference between a speculative "we need to develop across the UK" and a speculative "we should develop outside the UK", or even, "we need to develop in these random towns nearish the M62 that have never shown any interest in RL before".

Again, why? That's just repeating the same idea but with more words.

20 years ago?

It was 30+ years ago?

Like all long-established traditions, Father Christmas, as he currently is, was unknown before Queen Victoria.

I'm nearly 50. This was being said when I was young. It wasn't true then either. Cultures change. Diwali was sure as heck not accepted as part of British culture in 1982.

They'll go the US college route like they've always done.

Well, on the one hand, we have an independent and thorough survey with a published methodology that has shown that the world's two most popular team sports by participation are popular in Australia and then broken down the rest. And, on the other, some old blokes and their vibes. I'll go with the fact based one for now. I think it shows RL in a really strong position - not sure why everyone is being so touchy about it, TBH.

If you’re saying these figures are wrong because the AFL add up using the union calculator then the fact that they are independent of the AFL and its numbers is quite important.

The AFL have not provided any of the figures.

Yes. In Australia. NWSL, WSL and a growing number of leagues in Europe are where the global pathway comes in. The last time we had this chat, Sam Kerr was earning as much just from her club salary as each NRLW team could pay their entire squad.

[1] I doubt they will maintain the same level of popularity but there is no reason to expect a massive collapse. Women's football is likely to remain a decent and profitable way for female athletes from Australia to earn decent money around the world for a long time to come as well. [2] No idea what their expectations are but, following a quick check, the basketball league looks decent, features a lot of Australians, and is one of the top paying ones in the world. I doubt it will ever be more popular than traditional sports in Oz but see no reason to doubt the high level of participation - and just noting that translates to a pretty well attended league.

Because reality intrudes when you run out of money and IMG points don't pay the bills?

The Matildas are the best supported and most followed national team in Australia. Australia has a professional basketball league with a minimum player salary of $79,500 (£40,700) and a team salary cap of just shy of $2m.

Thankfully, for this one, governing bodies are nowhere near the numbers. You can, as ever, read all about it: https://www.clearinghouseforsport.gov.au/research/ausplay/method

All are on the footyindustryAU twitter account but: Victoria NSW Queensland

I may be being completely thick but I can't see a partners page or dedicated space on the RFL site.