An apparent player drain at the heart of the Australian Rugby League Commission's club funding backflip hasn't been replicated in the bush in soon-to-be released participant figures which show registered footballers in regional areas grew in 2016.

Country Rugby League officials in the state have counted more than 55,000 registered players involved in the sport outside of metropolitan areas in NSW this year - an increase on the 53,778 they chalked up in 2015.

The steady growth can largely be contributed to the explosion in popularity of women's league tag outside of Sydney, but still paints a healthy picture of the game in the country areas.

ARLC boss John Grant, who is struggling to survive a plot from furious NRL club bosses to dump him from rugby league's top administrative role, has been at pains to point out a renewed focus needs to be made on grassroots rugby league..