by Jim Webster - New figures show that the number of rugby players in Australia continues to grow. Indeed, the fourth consecutive year of growth sees player numbers surpass 300,000 for the very first time, with a total of 323,115 players in 2012. That’s a lot of excited, sweaty individuals running, tackling, mauling, jumping and kicking on suburban ovals and makes for a lot of work for the mums who have to wash all those dirty jerseys, shorts and socks when the game finishes. Still those numbers will put an especially large smile on the faces of rugby administrators and followers generally, who may have suspected that rugby numbers might be depressed by the continued emergence of the AFL and football. But that simply has not happened. People are wanting to enjoy rugby in growing numbers. The number of youngsters playing the game – the tiny tots and teenagers who will e