This resulted from a Talkingfooty discussion on who is more popular in the Northern Territory. TV figures arent accessible as the entire NT is still on the diary system. So we can go by player numbers and attendances.
According to the NRLs 2013 annual report, rugby league in the northern territory features 2,112 players in 102 teams in 15 clubs.
According to AFL Northern Territory it has 5,497 people playing senior club football, with the number blowing out to 9464 when junior and youth clubs are taken into account. This number does not include school football (another 13,700), Auskick (abnother 4,700) or nine a side.
So what about Touch and Oztag? Bearing in mind that the NRL is now formally affiliated with Touch Football, it bears consideration
The Touch Foootball Association 2013 annual report (pg 24) puts touch figures at 2,342. According to its website Oztag has no presence in the NT – and while negotiations are apparently underway to affliate, according to this article in the Telegraph – currently considers itself a separate sport.
School figures could not be found either in the NRL Annual Report, or the NTFL 2013-2017 Strategic plan, or in recent State of the Game documents from the NRL. The ARL did not include them separately in Annual reports as far as I can tell.
With Touch included in school league figures, Id expect league figures to run very close to the Australian football ones in the NT if not be higher.