Victoria has seen unprecedented levels of involvement. Todd Greenberg, the NRL's chief executive, told the ARL Commission on Thursday that 36,900 people in Australia were playing rugby league for the first time in 2018. That makes it the biggest year-on-year increase in almost 20 years. The figures come from an annual survey conducted by the Australian Rugby League Commission which aims to identify the number of participants in its community programs. The number of women playing rugby league has increased by 70 percent in the last 10 years, and there are now more than 3,000 girls involved in junior clubs across the country. In Victoria, there are more than 100 junior club teams with over 6,500 children participating. The Victorians are the most active state with 1.5 million hours of participation each year. They're followed by Queensland (1 million) and New South Wales (750,000). The most popular age groups are under 13 years old and 14-17 years old. There has been a shift towards younger players after several serious injuries have occurred on older fields. The Victorian government provides funding for up to 1000 new players to participate in training camps held throughout the year. These opportunities are open to anyone who wants to try out for a team.