Dave Craven: Soap girls add splash of glamour to Championship launch

The appearance of some current Corrie stars, however, and a recent past member of the cast certainly brought an added touch of glamour to the Co-op Championship launch yesterday.

And the trio of young ladies, more commonly seen in lads mags, were there for good reason. It was not just a gratuitous PR trick. No, sir.

Apparently, a higher percentage of female viewers are now watching rugby league than both football and cricket, and these three celebrities were living proof.

Ex-Corrie star Lucy-Jo Hudson may have last been seen in a footballing film – last year's amusing comedy Looking for Eric featuring the eponymous Manchester United hero Eric Cantona – but she is very much in love with the 13-man game, given her elder brother is Castleford Tigers captain Ryan Hudson. She willingly confessed to being an Oulton Raiders cheerleader at the age of seven and has pretty much followed whichever club her sibling has played at since.

Former cast mates Michelle Keegan and Helen Flanagan – better known to soap viewers as Tina McIntyre and Rosie Webster – needed a little more probing to come clean about their own thoughts on the game. It was, it's safe to say, gleaned they might be relative newcomers but Salford-born Michelle was certainly up for supporting the City Reds and Helen loved the excitement and atmosphere rugby league generates.

Anyway, that's all missing the point. The stats do not lie and the number of women watching rugby league is on the rise.

Sky Sports reckons its coverage has a female audience share of 35 per cent compared to Premier League football (29 per cent) and Ashes cricket (25 per cent).

The RFL are wise to tap into this market. Rugby league is often seen as the family game and there is huge scope to see more women come on board. With the television deal up for re-negotiation next year, the funding provided to clubs both in Super League and the Championship is crucial and the bigger the audience they can boast, the better their chances of securing future monies.

Rugby league is growing year on year with increased live coverage and viewing figures, record attendances at club games and a 29 per cent increase on attendees at the 2009 Grand Final compared to 2008.

More than a million people watched The Co-operative Championships live on Sky Sports last year with the televised Thursday night thrillers proving compulsive viewing and overall figures up by 31 per cent.

What a pity then that the season launch occurred on the same day most rugby league supporters and – more importantly – non-followers of the game were reading about a drugs scandal in the sport.

Maybe it was a piece of mastery spin – follow bad news with some good – but the revelation of Terry Newton's suspension for failing a dope test was hardly the ideal warm-up for the lower league's kick-off.

"These stats show that the sport really does offer something for everyone and we're proud to get behind a sport which brings so much to the community – whatever gender or age!" said the Co-op's Liz Matkin.

"Being good for everyone is the heart of the Co-operative's core business as a community retailer."

People within the game know where she is coming from, already aware rugby league is a thriving sport which has plenty to offer. Unfortunately, those new supporters and customers they are trying to encourage may take one look at the headlines surrounding Newton and think differently.

It costs the player involved plenty, invariably two years of his career, salary, not to mention the stain on his character, but the game itself is given a kicking it can ill-afford. It is certainly not good for everyone.

Oh, and I nearly forgot amid all the glamour, drugs and rock and roll (well, soap opera at least)... the Championship kicks-off when Leigh tackle champions Barrow Raiders next Thursday.