This month's report, prepared by a Melbourne University academic at the request of AFL NSW/ACT, confirms the AFL is using Auskick registrations to disguise actual playing numbers.

A senior official with AFL NSW said last month that participation numbers in the western Sydney region had grown by 27 per cent, or 10,000 players, in a single year.

But the report's author, David Lawson, says: ''The reality is that junior club maturity and participation numbers appear to have stalled. There are 6 per cent less junior/youth players in 2012 than in 2009. The perception, however, is that the game is growing well. This perception is supported by masking low junior club numbers with Auskick numbers (Club, School and Community Auskick) and school program numbers.

''This optimistic, bullish perception is needed to market the game. However, this perception urgently needs to be underpinned by committed junior club participants.''

Government officials at federal, state and local levels, who have poured millions of dollars into Auskick programs believing it encourages children to play regular sport, might also be alarmed to learn it can undermine actual playing numbers in Australian football.

The report says: ''In the chase for participant numbers in NSW and ACT, a shortened and often subsidised version of Auskick has been aggressively rolled out in primary schools (In-School Auskick) and after-school centres (Community Auskick) … Junior club feedback has indicated that the In-School and Community versions have, at times, harmed Club Auskick.''

It appears Sydney kids, brought up on modified versions of other codes, might be different to children from other capitals, preferring competitive games to skill practices.

The report says, ''Soccer, rugby league and rugby union introductory programs essentially comprise modified games whereas Auskick centres concentrate on skill acquisition drills. Interviews and surveys have suggested that in Sydney there is a preference for more game-based activities to complement skill-based content.''

The report is at odds with a media report on September 14, quoting AFL NSW's Dean Connors, that Australian football participation in western Sydney had risen 27 per cent this year from 28,306 in 2011 to 36,000 to 37,000 participants.

Both AFL surveys and Connors define a participant as a ''no-less-than-six-weeks paying customer'' but, according to the AFL NSW/ACT report, playing numbers in junior Australian football across all of Sydney last year was 7694.

Nor is there any reason to boast about Sydney's senior numbers.

The report says: ''With the growth of senior numbers halving (from 8 per cent to 4 per cent), under-18s growth dropping from 12 per cent to 4 per cent and significantly more 100-point victories in 2012 in U18 division 1 and premier divisions, there appears good reason to maintain a watching brief.''