Which rugby code has most injuries?

[flipop26]

I am not sure which rugby code has most injuries? According to a Medibank Private report AFL had most injuries and Rugby League and Rugby Union ranked 4th.

I have a few questions, I am non Australian and don't know the facts..can someone please answer these questions?
Is AFL the most popular sport in Australia in terms of viewers of live games, television ?

Because if it is you would expect to see most injuries here.

I am not sure which is most popular, but I heard that this is variable depending on which State one is from.?

What injuries are most popular in each of the codes?

What is being done to prevent injuries?

Look forward to your responses

Cheers

[injuryupdate]

See answers below:

I am not sure which rugby code has most injuries? According to a Medibank Private report AFL had most injuries and Rugby League and Rugby Union ranked 4th.

This report came from Victoria, where AFL is the most popular sport and may be different in other states. There would be more injuries in union and league in NSW and Qld.

Is AFL the most popular sport in Australia in terms of viewers of live games, television ?

AFL definitely has much higher crowds than league, union and soccer, but TV ratings are split between AFL and league. Union and soccer repectively have lower TV ratings and crowds but much greater international relevance.

I am not sure which is most popular, but I heard that this is variable depending on which State one is from.?

Yes - South and West = AFL; North east states = rugby codes

What injuries are most popular in each of the codes?

The same injuries occur in each code but in different proportions. More running lower limb injuries in AFL, more upper body contact injuries in rugby codes. More detail on this topic can be found at:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8361423&dopt=Abstract

What is being done to prevent injuries?

AFL and then Union are more active in this area than league. There are examples of injury prevention on the injuryupdate website. Do a search on the word 'prevention' and you can read some of it!

[injuryupdate]

The full text of the Seward paper has now been posted at:

http://www.injuryupdate.com.au/images/research/MJA93sewardfootball.pdf

This is a big file (scanned in) but is worth downloading if you are interested in the topic.