Rugby League is on the rise in the north east with the latest official statistics confirming that 2012 has been the best season ever in terms of the number of people playing the sport in the region.

With the season now finished representatives from the RFL’s north east team continue to attend events such as the Great North Run to raise the profile of Rugby League.

North east Regional Manager Jo Drapier said: “We’ve had a great year across the region and I’d say a big thank you to all Rugby League staff and volunteers for their support which has enabled us to achieve the biggest stats the north east have ever seen.

“There are now 17 men’s teams playing across the North East including sides which made their debut in 2012 such as Teesside Bulls who have their own success stories and these add up to a total of 1032 open age players registered so far in 2012.

“During the 2011/12 academic year we have coached over 11,000 primary and secondary school children and this has boosted the junior clubs meaning that at junior level there are now 868 registered players playing with the North East.

“In 2012 nine girl’s teams were established at Under-12s, 14s and 16s and six girls were nominated for the Girls Futures Programme which is aligned to the England Women talent development squad.

“We now have 129 active qualified Rugby League coaches within the north east and there are 748 active volunteers working in the sport which certainly bodes well for sustaining this growth in the future.

“For the first time the north east has had an under-15s and under-16s Scholarship Programme and another initiative in 2012 saw the first time the north east region held a North East Magic Event.”

“Finally we’re pleased that £346,000 has been gained from investment from grants and fundraising to community Rugby League since 2009.

“With the launch of the RFL’s new Rugby League of the extraordinary marketing campaign which aims to attract more people to the sport hopefully we will see increased interest and even more people playing the sport next season.”

For more information about Rugby League in the north east visit: http://www.northeastrl.co.uk/

To find out more about Rugby League of the Extraordinary visit: www.extraordinaryrugby.com