Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Rugby League'

Players from a number of team sports such as soccer, Australian rules football, and rugby league adopt pacing strategies during match-play in order to successfully complete match tasks without causing the failure of any single physiological system. Whilst these pacing strategies are influenced by numerous factors, it is currently unclear how physical qualities, physical contact, and time between matches influence pacing strategies. Given the frequency of physical collisions during match-play and the close link between physical qualities and success in rugby league, it is important to determine the impact they have on running intensities and pacing strategies employed by players. In addition, when players have little time to recover between matches, such as during a tournament, they may alter their pacing strategies to manage the fatigue that could occur across the period of congested fixtures. The demanding nature of competition results in players experiencing perceptual and physical fatigue that persists for a number of days following rugby league competition. Although the time course of the fatigue responses are well understood, little is known as to how fatigue impacts match activities and whether the fatigue response can be modified. Previous research has shown positive correlations between physical contact and markers of muscle damage; however as collisions make up a large proportion of the game, further work is required to determine the true cause and effect of physical contact. Although post-match fatigue is inevitable, various recovery interventions (e.g. ice baths, active recovery, compression garments) are often employed in an attempt to accelerate the recovery process. Despite this, the efficacy of many of these strategies has often been questioned. Given that well-developed physical qualities are associated with reduced transient fatigue and can be easily improved via training, it would appear important to determine the impact various physical qualities have on the fatigue response to match-play. With this in mind, the overall aims of this thesis were to determine the impact of physical contact, physical qualities, and periods of congested fixtures on pacing strategies and markers of fatigue and muscle damage in rugby league players. The thesis comprised 9 individual studies divided into two separate, yet interlinking themes. The first theme focused on player workloads, pacing strategies, and match intensities; the second on the fatigue response to these physical demands. Studies 1-3 investigated the influence of contact on subsequent running performance as well as the relationship with aerobic fitness and strength qualities. We found that performing contact within small-sided games leads to greater reductions in running performance as players employ a pacing strategy that prioritises the maintenance of contact efforts over running efforts. Increasing the contact demands leads to further reductions in running intensities. Subsequent studies also confirmed these findings, highlighting that there were greater reductions in running intensities during small-sided games following contact dominant repeated-effort activity as opposed to following running dominant activity. In Theme 2, we investigated the impact of physical contact on fatigue and muscle damage. The addition of physical contact to small-sided games resulted in upper-body fatigue as well as larger increases in blood creatine kinase compared to following non-contact small-sided games. In addition, we also found that increased running loads resulted in greater lower-body fatigue, whereas increased contact loads lead to increased upper-body fatigue. These data indicate that performing physical contact leads to larger increases in muscle damage and upper-body fatigue compared to exercise involving no contact. Furthermore, the location of fatigue sustained (e.g. upper- or lower-body) is sensitive to the activity performed. In Theme 2 we also investigated the fatigue response during an intensified competition and explored the relationship between fatigue and match activities. Increased creatine kinase, a marker of muscle damage, was related to reductions in match activities. Exploring the relationships between physical fitness, match activities and post-match fatigue response following both single matches and during a tournament provided some interesting results. We found players with well-developed physical qualities had higher work-rates, which could be maintained over a number of games, as well as less post-match fatigue. This suggests that physical qualities offer a protective effect against post-match fatigue.

Background: Rugby league is a contact sport played by men, women, and wheelchair athletes. In 2020 there were forty-five member nations, with men’s professional leagues in both the northern and southern hemisphere. Research has primarily focused on the male athlete and examined the physical, technical, and tactical differences between playing level, starters vs nonstarters, playing position, and successful and non-successful teams. The research is utilised by practitioners (Coaches, S&C Coaches, Sports Scientists, Physiotherapists etc) to apply evidence-based approaches to optimise athlete performance. However, applying the research of male athletes to women’s sport is inaccurate, due to differences in their physical ability, technical skills, and game tactics used. Female athletes make up the fastest growing contingent of rugby league players yet the research in female rugby league is scarce. It is therefore the goal of this project to provide new insight into women’s rugby league and utilise a novel analytical approach. This project examines the movement profiles (GPS metrics) and performance indicators of teams in the Australian women’s elite rugby league competition, the NRLW, to determine which GPS metrics and performance indicators can predict points scoring and match outcome. Traditionally performance analysis is done with absolute sums of data (data averaged over an 80 minute game), yet with the data made available to this project, the analysis of opposing teams relative data (data relative to the opposition team both on a per minute basis, and score line difference) was conducted to determine if this approach could offer unique insight compared to traditional absolute data analysis. Method: This study examined 117 players from the four NRLW clubs during the 2018 & 2019 NRLW seasons, with data collected using 10 Hz Optimeye S5 (Catapult) GPS units. The GPS metrics analysed were total distance (m); average speed (m.s); distance covered greater than 12 km∙h-1 (i.e. high-speed running (HSR); distance covered greater than 18 km∙h-1 (i.e. sprint distance; SD); and average acceleration load (total sum of accelerations performed). Technical performance indicators used were `All Running Metres’, ‘Tackles’, ‘Missed Tackles’, and ‘Tackle Breaks’. The technical performance indicators were analysed for a full match, and the GPS data analysed for the full match, and half by half. The analysis of oppositional data was separated into three separate steps: i) absolute sum of data vs absolute score (total points scored), ii) absolute sum of data vs relative score (difference in score line), iii) relative difference of metrics (% difference between teams per minute) vs relative score (difference in score line). Generalised linear mixed models (GLMM) were employed (R version 3.5.211). Results: ‘All Running Metres’ was found to be the only significant performance indicators, and was related to positive points scoring and match outcomes. Although not significant ‘Tackles’ and ‘Missed Tackles’ negatively impacted points scoring. There were three GPS metrics found to be significant predictors of points scoring and match outcome. ‘Average High Speed’ and ‘Average Sprinting Speed’ had a positive relationship, whereas ‘Accelerations’ had a negative relationship, with points scoring and match outcome. Total distance was not a significant indicator of match outcome. Discussion: The performance indicators of ‘All Running Metres’, ‘Average High Speed’, ‘Average Sprinting Speed’, and ‘Average Acceleration’ were found to be significant predictors of success. ‘All Running Metres’ was significant in the absolute and relative analysis, with the relative analysis finding ‘All Running Metres’ to be more influential than in the absolute analysis. This suggests having higher run metres relative to your opposition is more important than having a high total amount of ‘All Running Metres’. ‘Average Sprinting Speed’ was significant in the absolute and relative analysis, with ‘Average High Speed’ significant in the half by half relative analysis. These findings indicate that running at higher speeds relative to your opposition will contribute positively to match outcome. ‘Accelerations’ were significant in the half by half analysis of absolute values, and were negatively associated with match outcome. This suggests over the full duration of the game ‘Accelerations’ do not impact match outcome; however, within smaller periods of a match the disparity between oppositions ‘Accelerations’ may impact match outcome. Conclusion: This study was the first to examine performance indicators in women’s rugby league, and identify which GPS and performance indicators metrics could explain points scored and match outcome. ‘All Running Metres’, ‘Average High Speed’, and ‘Average Sprinting Speed’ had a positive relationship with points scoring and match outcome. The relative analysis approach was able to provide more inference than the absolute analysis. The relative analysis highlighted the increased influence of each significant metric in points scoring opportunities and match outcomes. By identifying the technical and physical qualities related to success, coaches and athletes in women’s rugby league can design training programs to improve player performance; devise game tactics to exploit the opposition; and aid in talent identification and player recruitment of athletes who exhibit qualities that will contribute positively to match outcome. Practical application: The findings support the training and development of attacking play and maximising possession; in addition to training and developing speed and identifying and recruiting players with these qualities. Defensive work should also be prioritised as our findings show that ‘Missed Tackles’ are negatively associated with match outcome.
Thesis (Masters)
Master of Medical Research (MMedRes)
School of Medical Science
Griffith Health
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The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of a unique experiment by the Rugby Football League, to apply the American professional team sports model to its game, making it the first British sport ever to attempt this. It investigates the economic, financial and social changes, which have occurred within the sport of rugby league, since the introduction of the 'Super League'. The adoption of the American professional team sports model is based on increasing the uncertainty of outcome of games in order to ensure profit maximisation of the clubs. This has raised a number of issues, pertaining to both the game of rugby league itself, the difference between American and British sport, and the ever increasing effect of television revenues and mass media on sport. The adaptation of the model by rugby league officials has resulted in decisive changes to the way the game is played and how the Rugby Football League is run. A change to three divisions from two, the introduction of a 'Super League' copying football's Premiership and a switch from the traditional winter game to a summer season has taken place. Also critical has been the move from terrestrial to satellite television and the effect of this move on network externalities that could influence the long-term future of the game. The £87million financial investment from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation provided the catalyst for change, in exchange for the five-year exclusive broadcasting rights to the game. The American model was utilised in order to try and financially stabilise the league through the process of profit maximisation. The need for equilibrium within the league also led to the utilisation of various restrictive controls, all of which are common-place in the United States. After critically evaluating the relevant literature, attention is turned to testing the effect of the experiment of applying the American model to British Rugby League. A five-strand approach has been adopted using data both pre and post, the introduction of Super League, utilising nine, case study-clubs throughout the study. Firstly, any change in uncertainty of outcome was examined using the standard deviation of Win/Loss percentage adapted from the approach by Noll (1988) and Scully (1989). Demand for the live matches through attendance figures and broadcasting demand, using audience viewing data were examined. The third strand examines whether the predicted outcome of the American model, and increases in revenue and profit, have been achieved. Finally, two social surveys were carried out on three major stakeholder groups, club officials, players and supporters. The results indicate that the application of the American Professional Team Sports model to rugby league did not achieve the predicted outcome of increased uncertainty, attendance and ultimately, revenue. The reasons for this can be explained by the partial implementations of the model and non-market factors, which appear to be much more significant within British Rugby League than in American sports. The over-riding results suggest that regardless of structural or organisational changes, rugby league is destined to remain a northern minority sport.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Edith Cowan University, 2007.
"Including: 1. Testing and the relationship of upper body muscular strength, power, speed and strength-endurance to playing position and status in professional rugby league players; 2. Acute training methods that affect the development of upper body muscular power; and 3. Chronic adaptations - the nature, scope and methodology of long-term adaptations in upper body strength and power."--T.p. Submitted to the Faculty of Computing, Health and Science. Includes bibliographical references.

Rugby league football is a popular game in Australia, which appears to rely heavily upon strength, power, speed and endurance due to the nature of the phyiscal contacts. In an effort to discern the importance of upper body strength, power speed and endurance to rugby league players a retrospective data analysis was performed. Three areas of investigation were: 1) the testing of upper body physical qualities of strength, power, speed and strength-endurance and their significance to playing status in the elite national first-division (NRL), second-division (SRL) and third-division (CRL), 2) the effect of acute training variable manipulations upon power output and 3) the nature, scope and magnitude of chronic adaptations in strength and power in a multi-year period in professional rugby league players.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Business Administration in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Currently the performance of off-field managers of the Super League A rugby clubs is not at the required level, despite indicators that it plays a crucial role in the success of rugby clubs in the Western Province and in South Africa (SA). This study reviews and reports on the factors influencing off-field management of rugby clubs to understand management effectiveness and its importance to the success of the club. The review identified factors such as skills, competencies, strategic management, and other resources that are important for effective rugby club management, and reports on the need to develop and deploy adequate skills and resources to enhance rugby club management in the Western Province. The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of effective management of rugby clubs. The purpose of the study was to investigate the off-field management skills, competencies, and resources for effective management of Super League (SL) A rugby clubs in the Western Province Rugby Football Union (WPRFU). Emanating from this investigation, recommendations were made to improve SL A rugby clubs’ off-field management performance. The methodology that was used included questionnaires that were completed by employees at the rugby clubs, either electronically or in written form. The results were analysed using SPSS version 21. The main findings were that the off-field management needs training to be effective, and therefore should deploy identified, well-trained employees to fill the gap created by partly-trained employees. The practical implication is that rugby clubs need to invest in the training and development of off-field employees for effective management of rugby clubs.

The effectiveness of recovery interventions following prolonged multiple sprint team sports matches has rarely been studied despite the potential for exercise-induced muscle damage to adversely affect training in the days following games. The lack of research related to this topic is probably owing to the wide variability that exists in the movement demands of players between matches and the impact that this has on the subsequent rate and magnitude of recovery which makes it difficult to detect meaningful differences when conducting research with small sample sizes. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to develop a rugby league-specific match simulation protocol that replicates the movement demands, physiological responses and subsequent recovery from matches in order to study the effectiveness of recovery interventions. Hence, two time-motion analysis studies were conducted using a semi-automated image recognition system to inform the development of the rugby league match simulation protocol (RLMSP). Whilst mean total distance covered over the duration of the match was 8,503 m, ball in play and stoppage work-to-rest ratios were 1:6.9 and 1:87.4, respectively, for all players. Furthermore, a significant decline in high and very high intensity running locomotive rates were observed between the initial and final 20 min periods of the match. Thus a RLMSP was devised to replicate the overall movement demands, intra-match fatigue and recovery from a senior elite rugby league match. Not only was there a low level of variability in the movement demands during the RLMSP over consecutive trials, but with the exception of creatine kinase, the rate and magnitude of recovery following the RLMSP was similar to that that has been published following competitive matches. Therefore, the RLMSP devised in this thesis may be a more appropriate research tool for assessing the effectiveness of recovery interventions following match related exercise than following actual match play.

Performance indicators allow for the objective quantification of performance (Vogelbein, Nopp & Hokelmann, 2014). However, limited PI research for professional rugby league exists, with just one paper published (Woods, Sinclair and Robertson, 2017) although this was conducted on teams from the Australian elite competition, the NRL, with no similar attempts for Europe’s Super League competition. Therefore, this thesis aimed to identify robust indicators of success for professional rugby league teams in super league, which would subsequently allow performances to be scored and assessed graphically through performance profiles. Data from all 27 rounds of the 2012, 2013 and 2014 European Super League seasons were collected by Opta, amounting to 567 matches. Data for 45 action variables was extracted from spreadsheets using Visual Basic for Applications in Microsoft Excel (Excel, v2013, Microsoft Inc., Redmond, USA). To enable clear comparisons between winning and losing teams, draws (n=22) were excluded. Study 1 assessed twenty-four relative variables (home value minus away) using backwards logistic (match outcome) and linear (points difference) regression models alongside exhaustive Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) decision trees to identify performance indicators (PIs) and key performance indicators (KPIs). However, some variables which were thought to be important (as identified by previous literature) were removed from the analysis as they did not contribute to the model’s predictive ability as much as others thus calling into question the appropriateness of stepwise methods. Furthermore, unusual results were evident which lead to the conclusion that a suitable dimension reduction technique could be more appropriate to analyse large datasets with multiple variables that could be related to each other. Study 2 utilised principal component analysis to reduce 45 action variables into 10 orthogonal principle components. These components were analysed using backwards and enter methods in logistic and linear regression models alongside CHAID decision trees. This method provided a relevant guide on how teams could improve their performance by improving a collection of variables as opposed to traditional methods which described individual variables. Furthermore, the use of stepwise methods was argued to be less appropriate for sporting performances as some principal components that could relate to success may be removed. Results from both regression models indicated large variations on confidence intervals for beta coefficients and odds ratios, suggesting that the variation of a set of values are more representative of the data analysed, when assessing multiple teams. Therefore, idiographic assessments of performances were suggested to provide relevant information for practitioners, which can be lost through traditional nomothetic approaches, as evidenced in this study. Study 3 utilised the principle component scores to create idiographic performance profiles, according to match venue and match closeness. In addition, a case study was produced assessing two teams’ previous performances, prior to an upcoming game, providing a practical example of how practitioners could utilise this information in their respective environments. Although large variations were evident on profiles, it was suggested that team performances may never stabilise due to the unpredictability of complex sports involving multiple players like rugby league. However it was clear that idiographic profiles provided meaningful and informative assessments of performance which were arguably more relevant for practitioners compared to traditional nomothetic methods. Overall, this thesis facilitated a greater understanding of how rugby league teams perform in Super League, through the use of practical and relevant methodologies that can be utilised by practitioners and coaches who are constantly striving to improve sporting performance. Future research must consider the ‘theory-practice’ gap identified by McKenzie and Cushion (2013) in order to provide simple and relevant answers that practitioners require, which seems to be a principle that has remained elusive thus far.

The work undertaken from the studies in this thesis provides novel information in relation to the physical match demands of the European Super League (ESL) competition, focusing on a newly promoted ESL franchise. Specifically, this is the first work to examine the physical demands of competition for an entire squad of players across an entire competitive season in the ESL, the first to examine the physical demands of match-play over multiple longitudinal seasons, and the first to examine the effects of different between match recovery periods on the running demands for a large sample of ESL teams. Methodological work in this thesis has also highlighted the importance of quantifying and interpreting errors associated with GPS devices to quantify player movements and collisions. Chapter 4 examined the physical match demands for the newly promoted team over the entirety of a competitive season. Significant positional differences were evident, with Outside Backs (OB, 421 ± 89 m) and Pivots (PIV, 306 ± 108 m) performing more sprinting than Middle Unit Forwards (MUF, 185 ± 58 m) and Wide Running Forwards (296 ± 82 m). Conversely, MUF (35 ± 6) and WRF (36 ± 5) performed more collisions than PIV (23 ± 3) and OB (20 ± 3). Practitioners need to be aware of these differences when designing training and conditioning programmes for players. The high speed running (HSR) and number of collisions were greater for the newly promoted team than previously reported for higher ranked ESL teams, but are still lower than those experienced in the southern hemisphere National Rugby League (NRL). Chapter 5 examined the level of agreement between two different models of GPS device in measuring the total distance, and distance covered at high speed (> 5.0 m.s-1) in order that these could be examined in following chapters where two different models of device were used. The two devices showed acceptable levels of agreement in relation to specific analytical goals using positional data from Chapter 4 (total distance CV 0.8%, HSR CV 2.2%) and in relation to the differences between games won and lost at the elite level (mean bias [95% LoA] -0.29 m.min-1 [-1.6 m to 1.01 m.min-1] for total distance per minute, and 0.01 m.min-1 [-0.27 to 0.29 m.min-1] for HSR distance per minute)concluding the two devices could be used interchangeably to measure these parameters. Chapter 6 examined the physical demands of match-play for the newly promoted franchise over a three season period (2012-2014). There was an increase in the physical demands of competition in terms of the total distance coverer per minute (87.0 ± 2.4 m.min-1 – 96.6 ± 2.4 m.min-1), HSR distance covered per minute (6.3 ± 1.3 m.min-1 – 8.1 ± 0.5 m.min-1), and number of collisions per minute (0.43 ± 0.05 no.min-1 – 0.53 ± 0.04 m.min-1). These findings highlight that newly promoted teams need time to develop and adapt to the increasing demands of competition, which is a pertinent issue given the re-introduction of promotion and relegation from 2015. With the current structure, newly promoted teams will not have the chance to plan and develop over the long term, which could leads to teams spending over their means to attract the players required to keep them in the competition rather than focussing on long term player development. Chapter 7 examined the effectiveness of a wearable GPS device to automatically detect collision events during elite Rugby League match-play. The overall error of the device (19%) was associated with not correctly identifying a collision has occurred. Ball carries (97%) were more accurately detected than when compared to tackles (73%). First man tackles (83%) were more accurately detected than second man tackles (72%), and third man tackles (51%). This data suggests the microsensor device has the ability to automatically detect the majority of collision events in Rugby League match-play. However given the collision detection algorithm was originally developed for use in Rugby Union; this may need refinement for use in Rugby League, especially for detecting tackle events. Chapter 8 examined the effect of different between match recovery cycles (short, medium, and long) on the movement demands in subsequent matches on a larger sample of six elite ESL teams. Matches after a short turnaround were associated with greater HSR distance covered per minute of play (13.2 ± 6.9 m.min-1) than when compared to medium (11.6 ± 5.8 m.min-1) and long turnarounds (10.6 ± 5.6 m.min-1). Matches with long turnarounds were associated with increased low speed distance (< 3.8 m.s-1) covered per minute of play (84.8 ± 18.2 m.min-1) than both medium (79.3 ± 19.6 m.min-1) and short turnarounds (80.3 ± 17.7 m.min-1). The total distance covered per minute was only greater on a long turnaround (96.1 ± 16.9 m.min-1) when compared to a medium turnaround(72.9 ± 21.8 m.min-1). These data demonstrate that running performance is affected by the length of the between match recovery cycle, and coaches and conditioning staff working within the ESL should be mindful of these demands when developing recovery and training strategies for their players.

Rugby league is an international collision sport. Players complete physically demanding activities such as running, tackling and passing which often result in musculoskeletal injuries. Injury rates increase as playing level increases. From 1999 to 2007 there were 42,754 rugby league claims costing Accident Compensation Corporation $48,704,704. Moderate to severe injury claims (MSC) represented 14% of these claims but 88% of costs. New Zealand Maori recorded significantly more injury claims and total injury entitlement costs than all other ethnic groups. Soft tissue MSC injuries were common (47%) for females. Concussions accounted for 70% of total rugby league injuries to the head while the knee represented 23% of total injury claims and 20% of injury costs. Neck and spine injuries accounted for 6% of total MSC injury claims but 16% of total MSC costs. In video analysis of 80 games at international, national and youth competition levels, 50% of tackles involved tacklers from behind the visual fields of the ball carrier, either two or three tacklers, and contact with the mid-torso or hip-thigh region. From the prospective injury analysis of one professional team over two consecutive years, tackle-related injuries occurred more to the ball carrier when tackled at shoulder or mid-torso height, in their blind vision, with two or more tacklers, and in the fourth quarter of matches. Tackle-related injury type and site varied by positional group. Hit-up forwards and outside backs recorded more tackle-related injuries as the ball carrier than the tackler. In the prospective study of 63 amateur rugby league players, 80% of players injured as a result of match or training activities saw a health professional as part of their rehabilitation. Team coaches asked players to return to rugby league activities in 28% of cases for training participation and 29% of cases for match participation. In the cross sectional study assessing 95 rugby league support personnel's first aid, injury prevention and concussion knowledge, only 2% achieved an 80% pass mark, 39% incorrectly stated loss of consciousness was required for concussion and only 24% of coaches had a rugby league coaching qualification. This PhD research has contributed knowledge regarding costs and characteristics of injuries to amateur rugby league participants analysed by ethnicity, gender, injury site and injury type. Changes in anthropometric characteristics and speed in regards to incidence of injury, characteristics of tackles in match situations and common tackling positions and positional groups where injuries occur, player perspectives on why they return from injury to participation in rugby league, and the lack of first aid knowledge for rugby league personnel, have all been described.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the influences and contributions of Māori to the establishment and development of the sport of rugby league in New Zealand. The overarching question of this thesis is how have Māori influenced and contributed to the development of rugby league in New Zealand? This thesis examines the international social history of rugby league from the origins of rugby league as a sport following the split in rugby union in England through to the contemporary status of Māori within the game as an elite sport in New Zealand and overseas. By examining Māori involvement in rugby league it is my intention to place Māori at the centre of the explanation for the establishment and development, past and present, of the sport in New Zealand, and also globally. While there have been some previous accounts of the affiliation between Māori and rugby league (Coffey and Wood, 2008; Greenwood, 2008; Falcous, 2007) this thesis compiles accounts from disparate sources in order to outline the history of Māori involvement and achievement in the development stages of rugby league. Key areas of focus for this thesis include the early Māori tours of 1908 and 1909, the development of the New Zealand Māori Rugby League as an independent entity separate from the New Zealand Rugby League and the contemporary influences of Māori on rugby league. This thesis will show that the early Māori tours were crucial to the development of Australian, New Zealand and, to an extent, British rugby league. It will also provide insight in to the inclusive nature of rugby league through the inclusion of Māori initiatives such as the development of a Māori Rugby League. The final section of this thesis will draw on the contemporary influence that Māori have on the sport through an examination of player migration and how Māori have emerged as a ‘donor culture’ providing high numbers of elite athletes to the world’s premier rugby league competitions. It can be argued that the mobility of Māori, in the form of touring teams and migrant players, has sustained the sport internationally while paradoxically, and simultaneously, depleting the game domestically. In this account Māori emerge, not as an appendix in a history of the game but rather as a crucial donor culture for the establishment and continued success of rugby league.

The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of different in-season strength and power training frequencies to strength and power performance over the course of a 22 week rugby league competition period. Twenty-eight male (n=28) participants, with both high and low strength pre-training status, were divided into three groups following a 15 week pre-season strength and power training programme. A four week periodised in-season strength and power training programme, with intensities ranging from 75-100%, was cycled for the 22 week competition season. Strength and power training was conducted one day.week(-1) by the first high pre-training status group (HTFL, n=11), and two day.week(-1) by the second high pre-training status group (HTF2, n=9). The low pre-training status group (LTF1, n=8) performed the same strength and power training frequency and programme as HTF1. Training intensity (% 1RM) and volume (sets x repetitions) of in-season strength and power training sessions were standardised for both groups during each training week. Strength, power, and speed data were collected pre-season, and four times during the in-season period. No differences were found between HTF1 and HTF2 in performance variables throughout the 22-week in-season period. Both HTF1 and HTF2 displayed similar significant detraining effects in strength, power, and speed, regardless of in-season training frequency (p<0.05). LTF1 showed no change from pre-season strength and power performance following 22 weeks of the competition period (p<0.05). It was concluded that in-season strength and power training frequency may have a limited role in determining the success of the in-season strength and power training programme in highly trained footballers. The results of the present study suggest a number of factors other than in-season strength and power training frequency may affect in-season strength and power performance and detraining in high strength pre-training status athletes. The effect the start of a competition period has on dynamic athletic performance needs further investigation.

In any sporting activity it is important to know how many injuries players might receive and also what type of injuries will be received, so that efforts can be made to reduce the risk of injury. This thesis examines the injury incidence associated with playing professional rugby league, and examines some of the risks associated with injury whilst playing the game. The first paper describes the pattern of injury incidence in professional rugby league and noted that it is higher than in other popular team sports. The second paper examines the different exposures of forward and back players and observes that forwards experience higher rates of injury. The third and fourth papers examine the effect of moving the playing calendar to summer rugby. The risk of injury has increased 67%, and it is also shown that 13% of players experience a 2-3% body mass loss in 14 of 16 games played in excess of 19°C ambient temperature. The next two papers look specifically at the number of collisions experienced by players during the course of a game. Forwards are involved in more collisions (55) than backs (29) during the course of each game. Also, backs have a significantly higher injury rate per 10,000 physical collisions compared to forwards. The next paper proposes a cyclical operational model to examine the interrelationship of a number of factors that are involved in sports injury epidemiology. The application of this proposed cyclical model may lead to greater success in understanding the multi-faceted nature of sports injuries. The final study in the series summarise the injury rates in professional rugby league football from previously published studies. The overall injury rate is 40.3 injuries per 1,000 hours (95% CI 36.9 to 43.8). The majority of injuries are to the lower half of the body (20.7 per 1,000 hours, 17.7 to 24), with the trunk receiving the least (6.7 per 1,000 hours, 5 to 8.6).

Rugby league is a collision sport that is intermittent in nature, characterised by bouts of high intensity running, collisions and tackling, separated by periods of lower intensity activity. Success in the sport requires a multifaceted skillset with players requiring good ball handling ability, quick and accurate decision making, and the ability to perform effective tackles. A large part of success in a collision sport such as rugby league is based on player’s ability to execute proficient and effective tackles, the ability to dominate the tackle contest, and the capacity to tolerate physical impacts. While the tackle contest is a critical element in rugby league, there is a relatively small body of work investigating this facet of the sport. It is generally accepted that high levels of muscular strength and power is advantageous for elite rugby league performance as players are required to push, pull, wrestle and tackle their opposition. However, the extent to which strength and power influences specific rugby league skills, such as tackling, is not fully understood. The aim of this thesis was to examine the influence of muscular strength and power on tackle ability and tackle performance in semi-professional rugby league players. This was achieved through seven experimental studies. The first study examined the muscular strength and power correlates of a standardised one-on-one under-the-ball tackle drill. The second study investigated the influence that changes in muscular strength and power following an 8-week training block had on the aforementioned tackle drill. The third study explored changes in tackle ability during a competitive season and possible relationships with changes in muscular strength and power. Study four examined the relationship between the standardised one-on-one tackle assessment and match-play tackle performance. Based on the findings of the previous chapter, study five explored the relationships between match-play tackle characteristics, tackle outcomes and physical qualities. The final two studies examined an alternate tackle drill, the over-the-ball tackle drill, and its relationship to strength and power, as well as match-play tackle performance. It was found that well-developed muscular strength and upper-body power were significantly correlated to tackling ability in rugby league players. Lower body strength as measured by a 1RM squat, maximum squat relative to body mass, and upper body power (plyometric push up) were related to performance in the standardised one-on-one under-the-ball tackle drill. It was also found that over an 8 week period, increases in lower-body strength was related to enhanced tackle ability. Conversely, there was a clear relationship between players who experienced a decrement in lower-body strength and deterioration in tackling ability. The standardised one-on-one under-the-ball tackle drill was shown to be a reliable (intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability = 0.88) and valid method to evaluate tackling ability in semi-professional rugby league players. Players with good tackling ability were involved in a greater proportion of dominant tackles and missed fewer tackles during match-play. Lower-body muscular strength was found to be correlated to the proportion of dominant tackles made during match-play. Furthermore, lower-body strength was significantly related to defenders exhibiting a medium body position (tackler presenting moderate flexion at hips and knees) and the ball-carrier being placed on their back. These findings suggest that lower-body strength was related to tackle characteristics and outcomes. An examination of match-play tackle characteristics found that approximately 70% of tackles were executed around the ball-carriers chest and shoulders and less than 25% of tackles were made at the mid-torso region. Thus, an alternate one-on-one tackle drill was examined where contact was made on the upper-torso of the ball carrier, the over-the-ball tackle. It was observed that upper-body strength and power as measured by plyometric push up peak power was significantly related to over-the-ball tackling ability. Under-the-ball and over-the-ball tackle abilities were shown to be associated with varying indicators of match-play tackle performance. Under-the-ball tackle ability was positively related to the proportion of dominant tackles and negatively related to missed tackles, while over-the-ball tackle ability was positively related to the proportion of dominant tackles and average play-the-ball speeds, and negatively related to tackles that conceded offloads. Two important findings can be concluded from the studies presented in this thesis. The first is that muscular strength, in particular lower body strength, contributes to under-the-ball tackling ability and match-play tackle outcomes in rugby league players. As long as the technical aspects of tackling technique are adequately coached and practiced, then enhancements in muscular strength and power may be one of the foundational components to underpin improvement in tackling ability. Secondly, this thesis presented criteria to assess over-the-ball tackling ability, with findings suggesting that the assessment is both valid and reliable. Both the under-the-ball and over-the-ball standardised tackle assessment tests are related to match-play tackle performance indicators, thus justifying the practical utility of these off-field tests to assess tackling ability. Although correlated, this study showed that the two tackle ability tests were related to different match-play tackle outcomes, indicating that over-the-ball and under-the-ball tackle ability are two different skills and should be assessed and trained accordingly.

The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of different in-season strength and power training frequencies to strength and power performance over the course of a 22 week rugby league competition period.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2009.
Title from title screen (viewed 10 Dec. 2009). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

The principal aim of this study was to create longitudinal profiles (1988-2002) for the games of rugby union and rugby league football in order to identify whether changes in time, offence, defence and game action variables, and positional and game performance indicators were a reflection that the two codes of rugby were 'converging'. Anecdotal evidence had suggested that due to certain administrative developments within this time frame many facets of the two games were becoming similar, thereby spawning the notion of a future single, unified game of 'rugby'. This thesis presents the first empirical and objective assessment of whether such convergence has occurred. The data for this study were extracted from 48 video-taped recordings of First Grade rugby league and International rugby union in the Northern hemisphere over the specified time frame. The matches were identifiable by Era (pre-/post-professional) and Period (1988-92, 1993-95, 1997-99 and2000-02). Key aspects of play or performance were distinguished via game models and expert opinion and were scrutinised via a series of specifically designed and validated hand notation systems. Initial analysis considered (and established) the reliability of these systems, thereafter parametric and non-parametric inferential statistical teohniques were employed to identify Era and Period effects within each Code, with the additional analyses to consider the effects of Game Result and Game Quarter Outcomes. The findings from these analyses, particulaily the observed increase in ball in play time, changes at the ruck, maul, and lineout, and alterations in defence patterns of play, have provided a strong argument that the two Codes underwent a discernable degree of convergence over the years being considered. It was concluded that the introduction of professional playing status (rugby union), the summer playing season (rugby league), and law changes were likely causes of the two games being now similar in many respects. Although additional analyses should be encouraged to corroborate the present findings, the case for the development of a single Code of rugby can now be made.

This study examines professional Australian coach and athlete perceptions of effective coaching. Rather than assess the ability or effectiveness of the coaches and teams involved, the purpose was to gather perceptions of what professional coaches and players believe it takes to be an effective coach. Given the broad range of tasks that fit under the auspice of coaching, an important question to address was ‘what’ a coach does in order to be considered effective. In addition, an understanding of ‘why’ and ‘how’ these factors are effective was also essential. These questions formed a starting point in order to find out what professional coaches do (including how they behave), and why players and coaches perceive certain coaching strategies to be effective. This study employed a qualitative research design to identify perceptions about, and strategies of, effective coaching within the professional sport context. Interviews enabled participants to discuss their interpretations of the world in which they live, from their own point of view – a key feature of the present research. Observational data allowed me to view coaching behaviours and interactions with players in training and competition contexts. Using professional Australian coaches and players from cricket, rugby union and rugby league, 6 coaches and 25 players were interviewed while up to 16 coaches and 80 players were observed during 41 observation sessions at training and competition venues. The constant comparative method (Côté, Salmela, Baria, & Russell, 1993; Côté, Salmela, & Russell, 1995b; Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was used to analyse the observation and interview accounts. This enabled rich descriptions of what effective coaches do as well as providing information regarding how and why they carry out certain actions. Findings from the current research indicated that an effective coach possesses specific personal characteristics, qualities and skills as well as a general philosophy or direction for the team. The effective coach uses their own unique leadership, player management, communication and planning skills to create and maintain the team environment to ensure that everyone involved with the team ‘works off the same page’. The interaction of all these features leads to the primary goal of player development, improvement in player performance and winning matches. This thesis identified key perceptions and applications of effective coaching based on Australian professional coach and player experiences.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
This study examines professional Australian coach and athlete perceptions of effective coaching. Rather than assess the ability or effectiveness of the coaches and teams involved, the purpose was to gather perceptions of what professional coaches and players believe it takes to be an effective coach. Given the broad range of tasks that fit under the auspice of coaching, an important question to address was ‘what’ a coach does in order to be considered effective. In addition, an understanding of ‘why’ and ‘how’ these factors are effective was also essential. These questions formed a starting point in order to find out what professional coaches do (including how they behave), and why players and coaches perceive certain coaching strategies to be effective. This study employed a qualitative research design to identify perceptions about, and strategies of, effective coaching within the professional sport context. Interviews enabled participants to discuss their interpretations of the world in which they live, from their own point of view – a key feature of the present research. Observational data allowed me to view coaching behaviours and interactions with players in training and competition contexts. Using professional Australian coaches and players from cricket, rugby union and rugby league, 6 coaches and 25 players were interviewed while up to 16 coaches and 80 players were observed during 41 observation sessions at training and competition venues. The constant comparative method (Côté, Salmela, Baria, & Russell, 1993; Côté, Salmela, & Russell, 1995b; Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was used to analyse the observation and interview accounts. This enabled rich descriptions of what effective coaches do as well as providing information regarding how and why they carry out certain actions. Findings from the current research indicated that an effective coach possesses specific personal characteristics, qualities and skills as well as a general philosophy or direction for the team. The effective coach uses their own unique leadership, player management, communication and planning skills to create and maintain the team environment to ensure that everyone involved with the team ‘works off the same page’. The interaction of all these features leads to the primary goal of player development, improvement in player performance and winning matches. This thesis identified key perceptions and applications of effective coaching based on Australian professional coach and player experiences.

Background Sport-related concussion accounts for 9% of all sporting injuries. Within elite rugby league athletes, 17% will suffer a concussion in a three-year period. Although there is increasing knowledge of incidence and risk of SRC in rugby league, gaps regarding the optimal diagnostic and return to play protocols remain. The National Rugby League requires teams to follow a strict concussion protocol, the Head Injury Assessment, which incorporates the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (3rd ed). The effectiveness of the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3rd Edition protocol, along with existing cognitive assessment tools to diagnose and predict a return to play have been disputed, which has highlighted the need for objective biomarkers. The pupil light reflex is an autonomic nervous system function that occurs when there is a light stimulus upon the pupil. Emerging evidence has been suggested that pupil light reflex may be useful as a potential objective physiological biomarker for neuroanatomical pathway disruption. The aim of the present study was to determine whether there was a change in the pupil light reflex and anisocoria (pupil asymmetry) following a sport-related concussion in national level rugby league athletes. Aims and Objectives The study aimed to determine whether a change in the PLR and anisocoria is detectable following an acute sport-related concussion in national level rugby league athletes. To achieve this, comparisons of the PLR, anisocoria, variability and time-frame variations between concussed and non-concussed athletes were undertaken. Methods Fifty-five male volunteer athletes (age: 23 ± 4.5 years) were recruited from a local National Rugby League club. Eight pupil light reflex parameters were measured via a handheld monocular pupillometer during the rugby league pre-season. During the 2017 National Rugby League season, the pupil light reflex of nine athletes without a sport-related concussion diagnosis was monitored. Sixteen athletes were diagnosed with sport-related concussion and the pupil light reflex was recorded over a ten-day time frame, and broken down to three periods, 0 – 3 days, 4 – 6 days and 7 – 10 days, to measure recovery. Absolute change scores between the pupil light reflex parameter values were calculated for each athlete. Independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to test the study objectives. Results The neurological pupil index was significantly lower in the sport-related concussion group compared to the no-sport-related concussion (p = 0.0002). There was no statistical difference in the additional seven pupil light reflex parameters between the two groups. Given the variability within sport-related concussion and no-sport-related concussion athletes, absolute change scores were calculated to determine difference between groups. The absolute change score for resting pupil diameter (p = 0.001) and minimum pupil diameter (p < 0.0001) were statistically larger for athletes in the sport-related concussion group compared to no-sport-related concussion. No significant differences were found for the remaining six PLR parameters between groups. Throughout the acute phase of sport-related concussion, resting pupil diameter and minimum pupil diameter were found to be statistically different at 0 – 3 days, 4 – 6 days and 7 – 10 days following a sport-related concussion (p < 0.05). Maximum constriction velocity was statistically different at 0 – 3 days (p = 0.04) following a sport-related concussion, however no difference was observed at the remaining time frames (p > 0.05). Conclusion The pupil light reflex has previously been observed to have a statistical difference between control groups and mild traumatic brain injury groups. The present study found scientifically significant changes in the pupil light reflex following acute sport-related concussion in national level rugby league athletes compared to non-concussed athletes. The neurological pupil index for athletes with sport-related concussion were found to be statistically smaller than non-concussed athletes. Similar to previous research investigating mild traumatic brain injuries, the resting and minimum pupil diameter were found to be significantly different between a sport-related concussion group and non-concussion group. Results of the present study suggests the pupil light reflex may provide an objective physiological biomarker for diagnosis and recovery monitoring of an acute sport-related concussion in national level rugby league athletes. The change in the pupil light reflex observed in the present study suggest the potential application within the diagnosis and recovery monitoring of an acute sport-related concussion in national level rugby league athletes.
Thesis (Masters)
Master of Medical Research (MMedRes)
School of Medical Science
Griffith Health
Full Text

Concussions are a problem in competitive sports with growing concern over the acute and long-term consequences of repetitive head trauma. Participation in sport increases risk of concussion, particularly contact sports including rugby, hockey and football (Harmon et al., 2013). In rugby league, there are between 8.0-17.5 concussions/1000 player hours, representing roughly 10-15% of all injuries in the sport (Gardner et al., 2015). Shoulder, head, hip and knee are reported to be the most common regions that impact the head and are responsible for the greatest number of concussive injuries in rugby (Cusimano et al., 2013; Fuller et al., 2010; Gardner et al., 2014; Toth, Mcneil, & Feasby, 2005). In each of the common injury events reported in elite men’s rugby, there are unique combinations of impact conditions which include effective mass, compliance, velocity and location of impact. The head-to-head event represents a low mass, low compliance event, whereby the hip and shoulder-to-head collisions represents high mass, high compliance events. Scientists have conducted research in an effort to describe incidence and mechanisms of concussive injury in rugby, however, little is known about the biomechanics of head injury in the sport (Fréchède & Mcintosh, 2009; Fréchède & McIntosh, 2007; McIntosh et al., 2000). The purpose of this thesis is to characterize dynamic response and brain tissue deformation for (1) hip-to-head, (2) shoulder-to-head, (3) knee-to-head, and (4) head-to-head concussion events in men’s rugby. Twenty-nine (29) impact videos of diagnosed concussive injuries associated with the four common injury events were reconstructed in the Neurotrauma Impact Science Lab. Head-to-head impacts were reconstructed in this study using a pendulum system, while hip, shoulder and knee to head impacts were reconstructed using the pneumatic linear impactor. Results of this study demonstrate that the common injury events resulting in concussion in elite men’s rugby have different dynamic response characteristics. Head-to-head events produced significantly greater peak linear and peak rotational acceleration, however no significant differences in maximum principal strain between the injury events. Results of this study can be useful in reducing rates and severity of concussive injury in rugby.

‘While performance analysts have been increasingly employed in many elite level sporting organisations, this development has arguably not been matched with a comparable level of critical scholarship addressing how performance analysts experience, understand and practice within a variety of organisational cultures’ (Huggan, Nelson & Potrac, 2015, p. 505). Specifically, the micro-political, emotional and identity experiences faced by neopphyte performance analysts as they transition into an elite rugby league coaching environment have not yet been considered. To partially address this situation, the current thesis provides a novel insight into my emotional, identity and micro-political experiences, as I endeavoured to transition into the coaching team for the first time. Data for this investigation was gathered in the form of a daily journal, based on my experiences at the Club, the University and in my home life. These journals were also discussed during monthy supervisory meetings, in order to further understand my experiences. Several interrelated themes emerged from the resulting narrative and were principally understood in relation to the work of Kelchtermans (e.g. Kelchtermans, 2009; Kelchtermans & Ballett, 2002a, 2002b), Goffman (1959, 1963, 1969), Hochschild (1979, 1983), Burke and Stets (2009) and Stryker (1980). I contend that the inherent structural vulnerability of my neophyte performance analyst position, as well as my determination to protect and advance my career meant that I had to learn to act micro-politically. I also assert that the multiple identities I possessed during this time acted cooperatively and conflictingly at different times, ultimately resulting in me not wanting to remain within my professional identity. It is hoped that through presenting the ambiguity, pathos and dynamic nature of practicing performance analysis in elite rugby league, a more grounded understanding of this topic area can be obtained.

The application of microtechnology devices (Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and integrated triaxial accelerometers) has become common practice in team sports due to the ability to provide objective information on the physiological requirements of match-play and training. The aims of this thesis were to review the literature examining the application of GPS technology in team sports; and utilise novel applications of GPS and integrated accelerometer technology in rugby league to quantify pre-season training loads, match collision forces and the energetic demands of match-play; as well as to examine positional group differences. GPS was used to measure training demands, video and accelerometer data were utilised to quantify collision forces, and energetic demands were estimated via a time-motion model from accelerometer data. The systematic review highlighted inconsistencies in movement demand classifications and the difficulties encountered in quantifying collisions/impacts. The four studies identified marked differences in positional specific demands throughout training and match-play. Pre-season training differences in various external load parameters were observed in drills where players trained within specific positions, whereas minimal differences were evident between positional groups within conditioning, generic skill and speed/agility drills. Outside backs as full-match players expended the most energy per match from increased running demands, but experienced the lowest collision demands, the majority of which arose from attacking play. Adjustables, also full-match players (apart from hookers who interchange), experienced elevated energy expenditure from increased anaerobic demands, however sustained reduced collision demands. As interchange players, hit-up and wide-running forwards expended the least energy (due to decreased running demands), but endured increased collision demands. Indeed, hit-up forwards performed five times more tackles per minute than outside backs and twice as many hit-ups per minute as adjustables. However, despite differences in total energy expenditure, the anaerobic work performed by the outside backs and wide-running forwards at high speed equates to a similar load on the metabolic system as the accelerated running patterns of adjustables and hit-up forwards. The differential positional demands identified indicate that position-specific conditioning drills are required to replicate the energetic and collision demands of match-play.

Adopting Rugby League (RL) as a vehicle through which to examine Talent development (TD) processes, the current thesis aims to further the understanding of TD environments (TDEs) and their role in athlete development by examining a range of factors that influence TD. Utilising an ecological approach and acknowledging the complexity of TD, the current research incorporates a variety of methodological approaches interwoven into four separate but sequentially linked studies. These include: an initial retrospective design examining the behavioural developmental trajectories of 224 professional RL players; a mixed method and subsequent longitudinal analysis of ecological context ‘strengths’ of three anecdotally ‘effective’ school-based RL TDEs to triangulate ‘strengths’, explore perceived change and association between environment ‘processes’ and the individual psycho-behavioural ‘outcomes’; and a concluding quasi-experimental designed professional club embedded intervention promoting psychosocial and coping skill development to assist player transition. Overall findings highlight the value of multiple trajectories to expertise, the key role of the environment and looking beyond the quantity and quality of training to a more holistic approach to development. The strong influence of supportive cultures and the provision of resources to enhance individual abilities such as coping, self-regulation and self-evaluation to ensure any opportunities afforded are maximised were identified as important. Given TD is multifaceted, and expertise requires several years to achieve, findings may practically assist the efficiency of TD process, allocation of resources and provide broad implications that may assist the effectiveness of current TD practice for individuals and sports.

Pre-participation cardiac screening (PCS) of the athlete has recently become mandatory by many national and international sporting governing bodies and aims to identify those at risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) from an undiagnosed cardiac condition. The term athletes’ heart (AH) describes the physiological adaptation that occurs from chronic exposure to exercise training however, this process can mimic cardiac remodelling caused by pathological conditions such as cardiomyopathy. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) plays an integral role during PCS however, differentiation from inherited conditions is often based on a ‘one size fits all’ interpretation of echocardiographic derived measures. To improve the sensitivity and specificity of echocardiography in PCS it is pertinent to understand normal physiological cardiac adaptation in specific sporting disciplines. This thesis focuses on cardiac structure and function of the elite, male, rugby football league (RFL) athlete with the application of TTE including novel speckle tracking echocardiography (STE). The aims of this thesis were 1) to establish left ventricular (LV) structural and functional indices of the senior RFL athlete using TTE and STE and a mathematical model of the structural-functional relationship; 2) to determine structural and functional indices of the right heart of the senior RFL athlete using TTE and STE; 3) to provide a comparative and holistic, structural and functional assessment of the junior and senior RFL athletic heart using TTE and STE and 4) To assess variation in cardiac parameters across the competitive season in the senior RFL athlete using TTE and STE. A comprehensive cardiac assessment of the elite RFL athlete was established throughout this thesis. The LV has a predominance for normal LV geometry irrespective of age or seasonal time point. Mathematical modelling highlights the interaction of divergent effects of left ventricular cavity size (LVIDd) and mean wall thickness (MWT) on LV function to maintain a normal ejection fraction (EF). Significant regional variation in LV STE parameters was apparent including lower apical rotation and twist parameters in senior athletes compared to controls (8.2 ± 3.9 ̊ vs. 11.2 ± 4.6 ̊ and 14 ± 4.7 vs 16.1 ± 4.6 ̊ respectively) suggesting potential adaptive mechanisms to training. The right ventricle (RV) and right atrium (RA) are larger in athletes compared to controls even after scaling (proximal right ventricular outflow dimension in parasternal long axis (RVOTplax) (23 ± 3 vs. 20 ± 2 mm/(m2)0.5), proximal right ventricular outflow dimension in parasternal short axis (RVOT1) (24 ± 3 vs. 21 ± 3 mm/(m2)0.5) and RA volume (RAvol) (22 ± 5 vs. 16 ± 4 ml/(m2)1.5)). The RVOT and RA are also larger in senior compared to junior athletes (RVOTplax (23 ± 3 vs. 22 ± 3 mm/(m2)0.5, RVOT1 (24 ± 3 vs. 23 ± 3 mm/(m2)0.5 and RAvol (22 ± 5 vs. 21 ± 5 ml/(m2)1.5) suggesting that the right heart is more sensitive to chronic training. Despite significant structural remodelling, RV function in the RFL athlete is normal as assessed by TTE (right ventricular fractional area change (RVFAC) > 33% and STE RV strain (ɛ) < -21%), irrespective of age and time of season. Significant seasonal functional changes were observed with STE as apical rotation (pre-season, 9.8 ± 4 ̊; mid-season, 6.1 ± 2.8 ̊; end-season, 5.8 ± 3.2 ̊ and post-season break, 6.6 ± 3.1 ̊) and twist (pre-season, 16.6 ± 4.7o; mid-season, 12.6 ± 4o; end-season 12.1 ± 4.5o and post-season break, 12.4 ± 3.5 ̊) are higher at pre-season than at any other time-point, highlighting physiological variation during the RFL season. The use of standard and novel echocardiographic techniques have provided further understanding of the normal physiological adaptation of the AH in RFL athletes which may lead to improvements in PCS of this athlete group.

This thesis is a history of women’s involvement in rugby league between 1880 and 1970. It shows that whilst women were traditionally excluded from playing rugby league, they were involved in the game, as supporters, volunteers and organisers. Women were also the mothers, wives, sisters or daughters of men who played or administered rugby, and were thus involved in the sport at the most personal level, providing a reservoir of unpaid labour to support their menfolk, but also suffering when injury or retirement from rugby reduced the family income. The thesis demonstrates that women have been an integral part of rugby league from its earliest days as a spectator sport in the north of England. This research explores how women found the space to assert their right to a role within rugby league and to derive their own enjoyment from it. It argues that women’s relationship with the sport was exceedingly complex and often appeared to be contradictory. Women volunteers were pushed into traditional supportive roles in their clubs yet used their position to exert influence and some power over those clubs. Working-class women were able to mark out areas of authority in their families and communities by working independently within rugby league’s patriarchal framework. This thesis asks whether their involvement in rugby league reflects women’s social, economic and political status in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and, by exploring women’s lived experiences and foregrounding overlooked measures of success, also reassesses the questions asked by historians of sport. Feminist in its methodology, the thesis also strives for intersectionality in terms of class and other formative relationships, such as age, geography, economy and cultural identity. It shows the depth of experiences of women involved in rugby league and offers a new way of understanding how women engaged with sport.

This study monitored a cohort of youth rugby league players from one professional club in England, across three competitive seasons (under-15 to under-17 age group). The aims were to establish which dimensions of growth and performance characterized players who were either coach-selected or unselected each season and to evaluate annual developments in growth and performance. It was also necessary to establish the credibility of various measurement techniques that are implicated in the talent identification process. In the assessment of sprint performance, GPS measurements systematically underestimated both distance and timing gate speed but can be used to reliably evaluate sprint performance, particularly for measurements of peak speed (95% Limits of Agreement (LoA) = 0.00 ± 0.8 km·h-1; CV = 0.78%). Using a larger sample of youth team sport players (n = 60), multiple linear regression analysis, incorporating mean and peak GPS speeds as predictors of timing gate speed, yielded a prediction model that was able to provide a valid alternative to timing gates in the assessment of sprint performance over 30 m. With regards to the reliability of assessments of sport-specific skill in youth rugby league players, no comparisons met the pre-determined analytical goal of ‘perfect agreement’, meaning that up to 56% of players’ skill could be misinterpreted. The credibility of such assessments should be questioned and alternative tests considered. In the period between the under-15 and under-16 group, there were large annual increments in speed (5.02 Δ%), force (13.82 Δ%) and power (19.85 Δ%) generated over 10 m sprint intervals and predicted vertical jumping power (13.02 Δ%), with concomitant developments in body mass (5.14 Δ%), lean body mass (3.20 Δ%) and predicted muscle of the quadriceps (10.12 Δ%). A discriminant function analysis also highlighted 30 m force and 10 m acceleration as significant predictors of selected players in the under-15 group and under-16 group, explaining 47.3% and 40.7% of the between-group variance, respectively – which was the case independent of age at peak maturity. However, there were 5 no differences between selected and unselected players in the under-17 group. During match time, there were differences between selected (57.1 ± 11.9 min) and unselected (44.1 ± 12.3 min) players for average playing interval in the under-16 group. In turn, selected players covered more total distance (5181.0 ± 1063.5 m c.f. 3942.6 ± 1108.6 m, respectively; P = 0.012) and high intensity distance (1808.8 ± 369.3 m c.f. 1380.5 ± 367.7 m, respectively; P = 0.011) than unselected players. When age at peak height velocity (PHV) was statistically controlled, only distance in zone 3 and summated-HR remained higher in the selected players of the under-16 group. Conversely, higher values amongst the unselected under-16 players for total and relative distance in zone 4, 5 and high intensity were revealed. There was a relationship in the under-15 group (R = 0.702, P < 0.001), under-16 group (R = 0.607, P < 0.001) and under-17 group (R = 0.671, P < 0.006) between the number of successful ball carries and 10 m sprinting force, thus supporting the use of 10 m sprinting force as a predictor of match performance. The relationship (r = 0.51, P = 0.044) between aerobic capacity and HIT·min-1 in the under-17 group also provides preliminary evidence of aerobic endurance as a potential predictor of match running intensity. It was concluded that players who are coach-selected are not characterized by match related performance variables but are offered greater match exposure during the under-16 age group, resulting in larger running distances. Unselected players are unrewarded for higher intensity running during matches when maturational age is statistically controlled and are also equally effective in regard to tackling and ball carrying outcomes. These results collectively indicate the inability of match performance measurements to contribute to talent identification processes in players of this type. The changes in growth and performance should be used to guide talent development practices of rugby league coaches. In particular, the assessment of force (i.e. the product of acceleration and body mass) should be considered as an important factor in differentiating between higher and lower ability players, as well as relating to match performance.

Rugby league development systems are seen as an important stepping stone in the progression of talented junior athletes towards a professional career as an elite rugby league player. This progression involves extensive exposure to increasingly intense training environments. Which, in turn, exposes developing players to increased risk of adverse events with little guarantee of long-term success. The aims of this thesis were to 1) review the literature examining the effects of training loads on performance measures and injury characteristics in rugby league; 2) identify common injury characteristics of developmental rugby league players; 3) assess the training age of developing rugby league players across various training domains; 4) to determine any relationships between training age performance measures and injury characteristics in this population; 4) quantify the training loads in developmental rugby league players; 5) determine which training load variables, if any, were associated with injury characteristics in developing rugby league players. The studies investigating the training age of junior elite rugby league players indicate that a higher training age was indicative of increased injury risk in specific injury characteristics and greater improvements in performance measures in developmental players. Examination of training load variables and their relationships to injury characteristics demonstrated greater associations between particular training load variables and injury risk in specific injury characteristics. Such relationships varied according to age group. Importantly, this thesis also presented a model demonstrating a practical framework for the integration and application of training age and training load in the context of development programs. The model may directly inform and highlight implications at the macro (policy) and micro (athlete, practitioner) levels on critical areas of training practices related to athlete development in rugby league players. In conclusion, this thesis better informs training practices through providing a sound evidence base on the interplay between training age, training load, performance and injury. It is proposed that such research will have a meaningful effect on the way rugby league coaches and sports scientists design and implement training programs. Collectively, the outcomes of the thesis will significantly contribute to the field of rugby league based research in terms of the effects of training age and training load upon performance characteristics and injury risk.

This thesis evaluates Australian rugby league participant violence between 1970 and 1995 through the use of figurational sociology, a body of thought pioneered by Norbert Elias. While figurational theory is the dominant paradigm used, an interdisciplinary focus is adopted in order to negotiate the recognised weaknesses of 'Eliasian' theory, and to complement its strengths. Communication studies, cultural studies and gender theory are interweaved with figurational sociology to analyse rugby league violence. Furthermore, through these theoretical paradigms, important wider social and cultural issues are taken into account including the commodification of Australian rugby league, the media framing of State of Origin rugby league as a 'sports mediated product', and the role violence plays both within the construction of masculine identities in rugby league and in the wider 'gender order' . These social and cultural issues are evaluated to gain an adequate understanding of the structural and interpersonal interrelationships constituting the social phenomenon of rugby league violence. The central finding of this thesis is that there is a processual shift from more to less illegitimate violence in Australian rugby league between 1970 and 1995.

Recently, media 'scandals' have pervaded a number of Australian body contact sports, in particular rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules football. Utilising the theoretical framework of masculinities, this research interviews footballers to gauge their perceptions of this media attention and how it compares to their own perspectives regarding off-field violence. Drawing inspiration from James Messerschmidt's (2000) 'Nine Lives' study and R.W. Connell's (1995) theoretical masculinities framework, in-depth, semi-structured interviews—known as life histories—were conducted with 12 footballers. Twelve life histories were completed with four men from each of the three major Australian football codes, namely Australian rules football, rugby union and rugby league. The research explores linkages between masculinity, body contact sport and engagement (or lack thereof) in violence 'off field'.

Establishing the accurate quantification of the training load is a key focus for researchers and sport scientists to maximise the likelihood of appropriate training prescription. In the field, there are numerous methods adopted to quantify the physiological, physical, mechanical, and other loads placed on team sports athletes, including global positioning systems, accelerometry, heart rate and session rating of perceived exertion. Each method can be classified within one of two theoretical constructs: the external or internal training load. Due to the lack of a gold standard criterion, previous research has investigated validity through relationships with criterion measures of load or dose-response associations with chronic changes in physical fitness. The current research designs within investigations into the validity of those methods have failed to consider the influence of the mode of training on the validity of the measures. As strength and conditioning coaches utilise a variety of training modes to stress the various physiological systems to promote the adaptations required to succeed in competition, investigating the influence of training type on training load validity is warranted. To achieve this, the research (Chapters 3-6) was conducted within two professional rugby league clubs, where training load data (global positioning system, accelerometry, heart rate, session rating of perceived exertion) were collected across three twelve week pre-season preparatory periods. Training sessions were demarcated by training mode. The results of the first study showed that meaningful differences in the distances covered within arbitrary speed-and metabolic power-derived-thresholds exist between field-based training modes (small-sided games, conditioning, skills, speed). These differences in external load also led to differences in the perceptual- and heart-rate-derived internal load response. Establishing how those differences in demands influence the relationships between multiple external and internal training load methods is important to establish the validity of individual methods across different modes of training. In our case study approach in study two, the main finding was that when session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) demonstrated trivial differences across multiple skills training sessions, large variation was present (coefficient of variation range 31-93%) in other training load methods (individualised training impulse [iTRIMP], Body Load™, Total Number of Impacts, high-speed distance) which reduced (coefficient of variation range 3-78%) when sRPE demonstrated trivial differences during small-sided games. This provided initial evidence that training load measures provide different information which might be influenced by the training mode. However, a more comprehensive investigation was needed. In the third study we aimed to examine the influence of training mode on the variance explained between measures of external (arbitrary high-speed distance, Body Load™, total-impacts) and internal (iTRIMP, sRPE) training load over two twelve week pre-season preparatory periods. This was replicated in our fourth study, across a shorter period of training from a different team utilising different methods in which to represent the external (individualised high-speed distance, PlayerLoad™) and internal (heart rate exertion index [HREI], sRPE) training load. During both investigations, we determined the structure of the interrelationships of multiple internal and external load methods via a principal-component analysis (PCA). Within the findings of both investigations, the extraction of multiple dimensions (two principal components) in certain modes of training suggests a single training load measure cannot explain all the information provided by multiple measures used to represent the training load in professional rugby league players. Therefore, if a single measure is used this could underrepresent the actual load imposed onto players. However, establishing the ‘dose-response’ associations between training load and the changes in training outcomes, such as physical fitness is also needed to establish validity. As a result, during study five, we aimed to determine the influence of training mode on the ‘dose-response’ relationship between measures of external (PlayerLoad™ ) and internal (sRPE, HREI) training load and acute changes in physical performance (countermovement jump, 10- and 20-m sprint, Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1) following conditioning and speed training. sRPE was the only training load measure to provide meaningful relationships with changes in Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 performance. This provides the first evidence of the acute dose-response validity of the sRPE method. No measure provided meaningful relationships with all changes in performance. Therefore, further investigation is warranted to establish whether a combination of measures reflect better those changes than individual measures. The findings of the thesis suggests that practitioner should consider the implementation of both external and internal training load methods within their monitoring practices and researchers should establish multivariate and mode-specific relationships between training load methods to elucidate appropriate evidence of validity.

There is a growing number of female athletes playing in ‘professional’ contact team sport competitions in Australia. One such sport is rugby league with a year-on-year increase in participation of girls and women. Undoubtedly, women have unique physical and physiological characteristics that are likely to alter competition loads and subsequent recovery when compared to men. Nonetheless, there is limited research that has characterized the external load (e.g., movement patterns) of female rugby league players during competition. Therefore, the aim of the first study of this thesis was to describe the movement patterns of women playing rugby league during competition for immediate application in training prescription programs. In addition to external load monitoring, longitudinal biological monitoring is an important consideration in contact team sports, whereby biochemical disturbances such as oxidative stress can inform how athletes are responding to training and competition. Blood biomarkers are typically assessed via a sample of saliva, urine or blood, which are analyzed in a laboratory by highly skilled technicians using expensive procedures that can take several hours or days. Therefore, while the locomotive movement patterns of players during rugby league can be measured ‘in the field’ with validity and reliability and in real-time, it can be difficult to measure biochemical responses to exercise in an applied sport science setting. Portable point-of-care devices have become available to make this process easier to conduct ‘in the field’, with such tests offering rapid results. While two point-of-care blood oxidative stress biomarkers (i.e., Free Oxygen Radical Test and Free Oxygen Radical Defense) have been used in an applied setting, their between-day reliability remains to be determined. Therefore, the aim of the second study of this thesis was to determine the between-day reliability of these two point-of-care tests to measure oxidative stress at rest and after exercise. Although ‘in the field’ studies are important for understanding biological changes in response to sport-specific training and/or competition, a reductionist approach must be taken in women since the female sex hormones are likely to influence blood biomarkers in addition to alterations in training and competition loads. As such, the influence that exogenous and endogenous female sex hormones have on physiology should be determined before blood biomarker monitoring is applied ‘in the field’ to monitor the responses to training in an elite team sport environment. Furthermore, women are heavily underrepresented in sports science research so, at present, greater control over contextual factors in laboratory-based studies will help to contribute to a more robust understanding of female physiology. Therefore, the aim of study three and four in this thesis were to conduct well-controlled laboratory studies to interrogate the effects of the exogenous and endogenous female sex hormones on blood oxidative stress biomarkers at rest and during exercise. The first study in this thesis examined the movement patterns of women playing rugby league during international match-play to enable specificity in training prescription for women. Global Positioning Systems and associated technology recorded the movements of players from the Australian Rugby League Women’s team (n = 31) during seven international rugby league matches. Total distance traveled was greater in the first compared to the second half (3332.9 m compared to 3249.0 m; p = 0.044), along with distances traveled at speeds >15 km·h-1 (p < 0.05), whereas players traveled further at speeds < 6 km·h-1 in the second half (p = 0.005). Backs traveled further at speeds < 6 km·h-1 (p = 0.002) and > 15 km·h-1 (p = 0.007) compared to forwards. Mean speed significantly reduced across the first and second halves (p < 0.05), while mean speed above 12 km·h-1 reduced by ~40% in the first half of the match (i.e., first ~5 min compared to the last ~5 min). These results provide practitioners and coaches with sport-specific activity profiles of female rugby league players that can be used to individualize training prescription. Since oxidative stress monitoring has been used to assess training stress, a device that can provide rapid results and be used reliably in the field is desirable. The purpose of Study 2 was to establish between-day reliability measures of two point-of-care tests; 1) free oxygen radical test (FORT) and, 2) free oxygen radical defense (FORD) for determining oxidative stress so reliable longitudinal monitoring can be employed in future applied research. Active participants completed two trials performed on separate days comprising blood sampling at rest (n = 22) and after treadmill-running (n = 14). Between-day coefficient of variation for FORT (4.6%) and FORD (4.8%) were acceptable at rest. There was no difference in the between-day magnitude of change in FORT or FORD from pre- to post-exercise (p > 0.05). Therefore, these point-of-care tests could be reliably implemented across multi-week team sport competitions to make informed decisions about optimal recovery and reduce the risk of illness or injury. However, it was noted in this study that FORT was significantly higher in women using OC, and this required further examination to ensure the interpretation of oxidative stress monitoring in women using OC was accurate. Within-group changes in oxidative stress across a menstrual cycle (follicular and luteal phase) and across a 4-mo OC cycle (active and inactive OC) were examined to inform practitioners and researchers of the variation in selected blood biomarkers for data interpretation and deciding on appropriate hormone profiles for experimental research designs where biomarkers of oxidative stress are a primary outcome, respectively. Blood samples were acquired from women using OC (WomenOC) and women natural-cycling (WomenNC) at three time-points of the menstrual cycle and OC packet for determination of estradiol, progesterone, oxidative stress, C-reactive protein (CRP) and other cardiometabolic biomarkers. Malondialdehydes (MDA), lipid hydroperoxides and CRP concentrations were significantly higher in WomenOC during the last week of the active OC compared to the inactive OC (+23% +96% and +104%, respectively, p < 0.05). However, there were no significant changes in these biomarkers across the menstrual cycle in WomenNC (p > 0.05). WomenOC presented with elevated lipid hydroperoxides (+28, +48% and +50%) and CRP (+71%, +117% and +130%) concentrations compared to WomenNC (p < 0.05, partial η2 > 0.25). This study demonstrated temporal changes in oxidative stress across one month of habitual OC use. As such, the day of OC use should be taken into account when interpreting changes in oxidative stress and CRP in conjunction with competition loads acquired via training or competition. From these findings, it was apparent that a laboratory-based study was required to investigate how OC may influence the redox environment during exercise, and whether specific antioxidant support i.e., N-acetylcysteine (NAC) may help to blunt excessive RONS generation in women using OC during exercise. The purpose of Study 4 was to characterise blood indices of oxidative stress and physiology during a controlled exercise task in WomenOC compared to WomenNC, as well as assess whether NAC supplementation acts as an ergogenic aid for performance in active women using OC. Twenty recreationally-active or trained women (n = 11, WomenNC; n = 9, WomenOC) completed five trials/visits, including two cross-over experimental trials that controlled for OC (late active-OC) and menstrual cycle (mid-luteal) phase. Cardiopulmonary parameters and blood biochemistry were assessed during and after a 40-min of fixed-intensity cycling at 105% of gas exchange threshold and a 1-km cycling time-trial after acute (1-h) ingestion of a beverage containing NAC or placebo. WomenOC had higher ventilation (β [95% confidence interval] = 0.07 L·min-1 [0.01, 0.14]) and blood biomarkers of lipid peroxidation (MDA; β = 12.00 mmol·L-1 [6.82, 17.17]) and inflammation (CRP; 1.53 mg·L-1 [0.76, 2.30] compared to WomenNC (i.e., effect of Group) during fixed-intensity cycling. The exercise-induced increase in lipid peroxidation observed in the placebo trial was blunted from NAC ingestion in WomenNC but not in WomenOC. NAC did not affect 1-km cycling time-trial performance. This study provided evidence of alterations in exercise physiology in women using OC compared to women naturally-cycling. Excessive oxidant damage to lipids from both OC metabolism and exercise metabolism may have implications for exercise adaptations associated with redox signalling or recovery from exercise. This thesis provided new insights into the locomotive movement patterns of female rugby league players during international competition, and female-specific physiology at rest and during exercise that may have practical implications when conducting future applied sports science research in women playing rugby league (or other team sports). The implications of high oxidative stress at rest and during exercise in women using OC are unknown. However, the characterization of the temporal changes in blood oxidative stress biomarkers across the weeks of OC use, and responses to exercise provide impetus for future mechanistic studies examining redox signalling processes related to training adaptations, recovery or health in female athletes.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Health Sci & Soc Wrk
Griffith Health
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Introduction: Research on the menstrual cycle and its influence on an athlete’s health, wellbeing and performance is limited and inconclusive. However, there remains a general consensus that the menstrual cycle, menstrual dysfunction and hormonal contraceptive use has some influence on the physical, physiological and psychological health of an athlete and consequently will affect an athlete’s health, wellbeing and athletic performance. It would be assumed, then that monitoring the effect of the menstrual cycle would be a priority amongst Support Staff working in female sport and that conversations surrounding athletes’ menstrual health would be commonplace. However, it is currently unknown whether conversations surrounding these topics are taking place between Support Staff and athletes. The low level of knowledge that elite athletes and Sport Coaches possess on the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraceptives (as studied previously) suggests that either these conversations are not happening, or that they’re ineffective in transferring useful information. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether these conversations are taking place and to investigate the barriers to effective conversation about the menstrual cycle between Support Staff and female athletes. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey with 26 participants who serve as Support Staff for a range of professional female sports including the Women’s Big Bash League (Cricket), the Suncorp Super Netball, Women’s Australian Football League and the Women’s National Rugby League. A 36-item questionnaire was developed to determine the quantity and quality of conversations that take place between Support Staff and female athletes within the female professional sporting environment. The questionnaire investigated the role of three contextual factors (opportunity, environment and responsibility) and how these factors influence conversation between Support Staff and female athletes surrounding the topic of the menstrual cycle, menstrual dysfunction and hormonal contraception. Demographic information was collected, and the influence of opportunity (i.e., time), environment (i.e., team culture) and responsibility (i.e., their perceived level of responsibility towards the athletes) on conversation was explored between participants from different professions and sporting codes. Results: Within these four sporting codes, opportunity does not appear to be a barrier to the quantity of conversation occurring between Support Staff and female athletes, with 89% of Support Staff reporting having the opportunity to ask questions of their athletes. The cultural environment appears to be generally supportive, however there remains a large proportion of Support Staff that are uncomfortable raising issues surrounding the menstrual cycle, and knowledge of these topics is not prioritised amongst Support Staff. For instance, there was a discrepancy amongst Support Staff raising issues surrounding period pain and menstrual cramping when compared to topics such as muscle injury and soreness amongst athletes. Gender also plays an influential role, with 60% of female Support Staff compared to 27% of male Support Staff agreeing that knowledge of the menstrual cycle, menstrual dysfunction and hormonal contraception is ‘extremely important’. While most Support Staff included knowledge and support of the menstrual health of athletes as their responsibility, 20% of Support Staff were unclear as to whether discussing the menstrual cycle with athletes was expected of their role. Similarly, there remains more than a quarter of Support Staff who are unclear as to whose role it is to refer athletes with suspect menstrual disturbance to specialist practitioners. Finally, 8% of Support Staff had never had a discussion with female athletes about their menstrual cycle. These results suggest that responsibility, at least in some instances, remains a barrier to effective conversations about the menstrual cycle between athletes and Support Staff. Conclusion: It appears as though the menstrual cycle is not extensively discussed between female athletes and Support Staff. Given that many still view the menstrual cycle as a sensitive or awkward topic to broach, in concert with the reported ambiguity surrounding responsibility and the discrepancy in attitudes towards the menstrual cycle between male and female Support Staff, it is likely that these conversations take place infrequently. This could have negative repercussions, as without knowledge and communication surrounding an athletes menstrual health, Support Staff will be less likely to identify and address menstrual disorders, which are common amongst athletes and can negatively impact an athlete’s performance, health, and wellbeing.
Thesis (Masters)
Master of Medical Research (MMedRes)
School of Pharmacy & Med Sci
Griffith Health
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This thesis explores and examines the construction of a sense of community and masculine identity in the sport of rugby league. I pose the question of how the game constructs these identities, then the thesis proceeds to synthesise a working theoretical framework which draws upon ideas of the cultural production of class, community, history and gender to provide a focus for the research. I develop the way rugby league becomes an imaginary community, 'the game', and how this sense of community defines the ideas of masculinity and northem-ness, and creates both belonging and exclusion. My theoretical framework develops new ideas about how community is created, and how hegemonic masculinity is produced and maintained in sport. The thesis is situated in a particular research paradigm, the naturalist paradigm, which best serves the aim of exploring the field and developing theory through a grounded theoretical approach. This informs both the synthesis and development of theory around the concept of exploring the field, and suggests a particular methodology. This thesis is based on qualitative research I undertook in a field consisting of a number of rugby league clubs in a district I called Sudthorpe. In addition, I did fieldwork at a rugby union club and a women's rugby league club so that the theoretical concepts I developed could be expanded and explored further. This qualitative fieldwork was flexible enough to allow me to explore the social networks that extended outside Sudthorpe, and I used both ethnography and setni-structured interviews. In addition, I reviewed en-L literature, secondary sources, and consulted archives and experts. Coupled with a literature review, reflexivity and grounded theory, my research was triangulated by a multimethod approach that allowed for a synthesis of ideas. This synthesis of symbolic community and masculine identity in rugby provide the original ideas of the thesis.

Abstract Abbreviated: This research aimed to understand better the information coaches and high-performance managers use and how they make decisions on player availability in the National Rugby League (NRL) men. The three factors that contributed to decision-making were: (1) their experience in the NRL, (2) trust (between coach and support team) determines many (if not all) decision-making processes, and (3) managing expectations of coaches, their staff, and players. There was one common denominator across all player availability decisions – data provided a basis for deliberation – but ultimately, the human connection through conversations (formal and informal) determined selection. Introduction: The game of rugby league is a physically demanding contest where players repeatedly perform intermittent high-speed running bouts, involving frequent accelerations, decelerations, and numerous high-intensity collisions. These bouts result in fatigue, soreness, and at times varying degrees of injury during or in the subsequent days after a game. With the current evolution of sports science technology in rugby league, the team’s attempt to measure and monitor the physical demands (either internal or external training load) using objective (e.g. Global Positioning Systems) and subjective (e.g. through coach, trainers, or athlete feedback) information. To add complexity, the National Rugby League commission has recently made significant rule changes to speed the game up (e.g. six again call to keep play flowing), resulting in high-performance managers’ having to develop stronger, faster, and more conditioned athletes. An additional evolutionary challenge for elite coaches has been the escalation of staff and player roster numbers, the outcome seen as a requirement to recruit specialisation coaches for specific skills and high-performance areas. These changes in rules and staff structure have increased the need to have management and leadership skills to coordinate the magnitude of information before decisions on player availability are made. The purpose of this research was to achieve a greater understanding (descriptive research orhypothesis-generating) from an interpretative approach as to what external/internal training load information elite coaches and high-performance managers use and how they make decisions on player availability in the NRL. Methods: This research used a mixed-method design with the quantitative component adopting two deductive approaches; the first by extracting data from each participant’s demographic details. The second included a pre-interview questionnaire that was developed to better understand the framework of processes for monitoring, planning, and decision-making. The qualitative component used a grounded theory constructivist design through semi-structured interviews by asking open-ended questions with participants to explore and understand the decision-making process as no current theory exists in this population. Findings: This study’s main findings include that coaches and high-performance manager support that, a team first culture and relationship between coaches, medical, high-performance staff and players based on trust is critical for success observation and casual conversations are key areas for monitoring and information gathering surrounding player well-being and preparedness an emotional intelligence leadership approach has emerged as the preferred model to facilitate a functional coach - athlete relationship a proposed conceptual framework of processes for monitoring, planning, and decision-making is supported as being an appropriate model Conclusion: Based on the findings this study concludes there are numerous factors that determine criticaldecision-making on player availability in the National Rugby League. Experience in the National Rugby League plays a significant role in player selection Trust (between coach and support team) determines many (if not all) decision-making processes. Specialist staff provide objective and subjective data to the head coach who determines (through consultation) whether a player is available for selection. Communication, organisation and effort has positive implications across all functions of an NRL club including managing expectations of coaches, their staff, and players. Managing expectations (of staff, players, administrators and the media) is a full-time role for head coaches in the National Rugby League and it is forever changing (rules, technology, compliance) requiring a delicate balance of art versus science. There was one common denominator across all player availability decisions – data provided a basis for deliberation – but ultimately it was the human connection through conversations (formal and informal) that determined selection.

This research explores the determinants of inter-partner learning in alliances. The potential for organisations to learn from their alliance partner is well recognised in the literature. The Knowledge Based View of the Firm (KBV) posits that an organisation’s knowledge base, especially its tacit knowledge base, is a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Three key determinants of inter-partner learning are: intent to learn, transparency (i.e. willingness to share knowledge) and receptivity (i.e. capacity to learn). These three concepts are used to guide a single case study of an alliance between a National Sport Organisation (NSO) and a Professional Sport Franchise (PSF). Data was obtained through semi-structured interviews with key informants at both organisations. Each individual transcript was colour coded in relation to each of the four research questions. All relevant quotes were then copied into separate files for each organisation and categorised by research question. The results of the study suggest that 1) despite historical conflict, the relationship between alliance partners is becoming increasingly positive; 2) intent to learn was low in both organisations but higher in the NSO; 3) the NSO was more transparent than the PSF; and 4) receptivity was low for both organisations. Key conclusions of the research are that the NSO and PSF are failing to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by their relationship, but intent, transparency and receptivity remain useful concepts to explore inter-partner learning.

This thesis is a collection of essays that utilises descriptive and empirical tools to examine competitive environments such as in academia, superrich and sport. The essays capture different aspects of the winner-take-all phenomenon by looking at citation and publication inequality in a top tier economics journal namely the American Economic Review. How globalisation and corruption influence the accumulation of extraordinary wealth and finally, how in a fairly equal competition, that is in the National Rugby League in Australia, wearing red shirts could lead to a comparative advantage and hence, tip the balance between winning and losing. The results within academia indicate that a highly unequal distribution exist, in which only a few top authors or institutions produce the majority of output. Furthermore, the results obtained in the superrich environment indicate that corruption and globalisation enhances the accumulation of extraordinary wealth. Finally, the results in the sport environment are mixed. While we find support for a positive effect of wearing red jerseys in our descriptive analysis, we find a negative effect when we control at the team level. However, when we investigate the relative difference in the degree of redness between home and away team, we find a quite strong positive effect of wearing red shirts even after controlling at the team level.

The thesis analyses the amateur game of rugby union by focussing upon the struggles for control between national and local unions and players. Using historical material and interviews with administrators, current players in the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, and Canterbury, a local provincial union, I show how the game of rugby union consolidated as the national game. I follow these actors through the shift to a global professional game sponsored by television networks and show how the local advantages in the New Zealand game come to be reconfigured in this context.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Background: Rugby League is a popular full-contact sport played internationally by 18 full-member test nations of the Rugby League International Federations (RLIF), 21 RLIF affiliate-members, and approximately 32 other unaffiliated nations. The most popular elite, professional, domestic leagues are played in Australia and the United Kingdom. Rugby league game play involves numerous collisions and tackles, and it carries an inherent risk for injury including head trauma. Despite the increased interest in sport-related concussion in recent years, only a limited number of studies have been conducted in rugby league players on this topic, with the large majority of publications only addressing the incidence of concussion as a secondary outcome measure within sports-specific injury focused studies. Additionally, there are currently no published papers on the potential long-term consequences of sport-related concussion in retired professional rugby league players. Aim/Purpose: This thesis addresses some of the issues related to the identification and acute management of sport-related concussion in professional rugby league players. It also examines the potential long-term consequence of concussion in retired professional rugby league players. One of the overall aims of this thesis was to conduct a systematic review of the literature examining both, (i) concussion in rugby league; and (ii) the use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy in sport-related concussion. These systematic review papers set the scene for the main aims of this thesis, which were to address the identified gaps in the literature, first by identifying the factors associated with concussion in rugby league at the professional level via systematic video analysis of the injury. The purpose of this first study was to described player and injury characteristics, situational factors, concussion signs, and return to play. A secondly aim was to examine the potential long-term consequences of a history of multiple concussions in retired professional rugby league players. The purpose of this second study was to examine the brain neurometabolite concentrations and the cognitive profiles of retired rugby league players who had a history of numerous self-reported concussions. Methods: Paper 1: This systematic review involved the retrieval of eligible studies pertaining to concussion in rugby league players. Numerous online databases were searched for publication in English from 1900 up to June 2013 using the key search terms: rugby league, league, football; in combination with injury terms: athletic injuries, concussion, sports concussion, sports related concussion, brain concussion, brain injury, brain injuries, mild traumatic brain injury, mTBI, traumatic brain injury, TBI, craniocerebral trauma, head injury, and brain damage. Articles were regarded as relevant and warranting inclusion if they were experimental studies examining concussed rugby league players. Studies were included whether they were conducted with acute or long-term concussed athletes (i.e., there were no restrictions placed on time elapsed since injury). Paper 2: All National Rugby League clubs were invited to participate in this video analysis study of concussion, three agreed to participate. All players medically diagnosed with a concussion by an experienced team physician from the three participating clubs were included in the study. The digital video footage of games in which each concussion was diagnosed was reviewed. Descriptions pertaining to player’s demographic information (i.e., age, height, weight, playing position, and game performance statistics) and return to match play were also recorded. Two raters independently viewed the digital records of events leading to concussion. Relevant variables were pre-determined and data were independently recorded by both raters. In order to reach consensus, all discrepancies between raters resulted in a review of the footage together and a discussion regarding the recorded data. Under circumstances where consensus was not reached, a third rater was to be consulted to make the final determination, however this was not required. Paper 3: Each use of the ‘Concussion Interchange Rule’ (‘CIR’) during the 2014 National Rugby League season was included in the study. There was no video analysis conducted on any event that was not logged and assessed by club medical staff. Access to video footage of the incident was attained through the National Rugby League’s Digital Press Pass subscription. All uses of the CIR were independently reviewed by the first author and at least one other author. Two authors were blinded to the study hypotheses but the first author was not blinded. The three raters determined whether any of six signs (loss of consciousness, loss of muscle tone, seizures, clutching of the head, unsteadiness of gait, or possible impairment in cognition or awareness as evidenced by a blank or vacant stare) were present, absent, or indeterminable based on the available footage of the incident for every case. When there was disagreement between the two primary raters (who rated all incidents), both raters reviewed and discussed those cases in an effort to reach consensus. In the cases where consensus could not be achieved, ratings from a third rater were used. Paper 4: This systematic review involved the retrieval of eligible studies pertaining to magnetic resonance spectroscopy and concussion in athletes. Numerous online databases were searched for publication in English up to February 2013 using the key search terms: magnetic resonance spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, neurospectroscopy, spectroscopy, two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, correlation spectroscopy, J-spectroscopy, exchange spectroscopy, nuclear overhauser effect spectroscopy, NMR, MRS, COSY, EXSY, NOESY, 2D NMR, craniocerebral trauma, mild traumatic brain injury, mTBI, traumatic brain injury, brain concussion, concussion, brain damage, sport, athletic, and athlete. Articles were regarded as relevant, and warranting inclusion in the review if they were experimental studies using MRS to determine the presence (or absence) of pathophysiology in concussed athletic samples. Studies were included whether they were conducted acutely or post-acutely (i.e., there were no restrictions placed on time since injury) and whether or not they also used other outcome measures (e.g., conventional MRI, CT, symptom checklists, balance testing, or neuropsychological testing). All retrieved articles were independently assessed for quality using a standardized quality assessment checklist. Paper 5: Retired professional rugby league players (n=13) were recruited through communication with the club alumni. Exclusion criteria included any medical history of neurosurgery, or any history of a brain tumor requiring radiation treatment, or claustrophobia. Healthy community control subjects similar in age and education were recruited through a research participant registry established by a medical research institute. All participants completed a clinical interview and neurocognitive testing. The total interview and testing time was approximately 135 minutes. The MRS data was collected during a separate, single testing session on all participants as one component of a multiparametric neuroimaging study. The imaging time for the MRS component of the study was approximately 25 minutes; the whole multiparametric acquisition time was approximately 65 minutes. An overall test battery mean was computed by summing and averaging the normative scores (expressed in T score units with a mean of 50 and a SD of 10). Conventional Imaging was performed on a 3 T Siemens Skyra scanner with a 20-channel head coil. MRS voxels were placed in posterior cingulate grey matter (GM) and parietal white matter (WM). Concentrations of glutamate (Glu), glutathione (GSH), myo-inositol (mI), N-acetylaspartate (NAA), total choline (tCho), creatine+phosphocreatine (tCr), and glutamate+glutamine (Glx) were quantified using LCModel and water scaling. Results: The systematic review of the rugby league literature identified that very little research had been conducted evaluating concussion. One hundred and ninety nine rugby league injury publications were identified. Thirty-nine (20%) were related in some way to concussion. Of the 39 identified articles, 6 (15%) had the main aim of evaluating concussion, while the other 33 reported on concussion incidence as part of overall injury data analyses. Rugby league concussion incidence rates vary widely from 0.0 to 40.0/1000 playing hours, depending on the definition of concussion injury (game time loss vs. no game time loss). The incidence rates vary across match play versus training session, seasons (winter vs. summer) and playing position (forwards vs. backs). The ball carrier has been found to be at greater risk for injury than tacklers. Concussion accounts for 29% of all injuries associated with illegal play, but only 9% of injuries sustained in legal play. Video analysis of medically diagnosed concussions during the 2013 National Rugby League (NRL) season identified most concussions (83%) occurred during a high tackle, and all concussed ball carriers were hit high. None of the striking players were concussed. All concussions involved a blow to the head or face. Loss of consciousness was observed in 30% of cases. Only half of the total sample was removed from play, and one athlete who was removed returned to play in the same match. Of the players who were removed from play, the large majority returned to play the following week. Illegal play accounted for 25% of all concussions. The concussion incidence was 14.8 injuries per 1,000 player NRL match hours or approximately one concussion every four games. The video analysis of the use of the concussion interchange rule (CIR) during the 2014 season identified 167 uses of the CIR. Loss of consciousness was observed in 30.2% of cases. Common observable signs of injury included clutching the head (69.1%), loss of muscle tone (50.0%), unsteadiness of gait (52.5%), and a blank or vacant state (59.9%). Concussive convulsions were observed in 1.9%. The overall inter-rater reliability for these concussion signs for the two raters was κ = 0.60 (95% CI = 0.56-0.64), which is considered to be weak to moderate agreement. More than half of the players who used the CIR returned to play later in the same match (56.8%). Of the players who used the CIR, and who had three or more observable signs of possible injury, 46.4% returned to play in the same game. No player used the CIR more than once in the same game. Of the players who were removed from play, the large majority returned the following week. Forwards (69.9%) used the CIR significantly more often than backs (30.1%). Most incidences occurred from a hit up (62.3%) and occurred during a high tackle (80%). The incidence rate was 24.03 uses of the CIR per 1,000 NRL player match hours. This equates to approximately one CIR every 2.41 games in the 2014 NRL season. The systematic review of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in sport-related concussion identified only eleven publications, with varying methodology and results. The review identified 11 publications that met criteria for inclusion, comprised of data on 200 athletes and 116 controls. Nine of 11 studies reported a MRS abnormality consistent with an alteration in neurochemistry. The results support the use of MRS as a research tool for identifying altered neurophysiology and monitoring recovery in adult athletes, even beyond the resolution of post-concussive symptoms and other investigation techniques returning to normative levels. In new data collected as part of the thesis, the MRS profiles of retired NRL players differed compared to community age- and education-matched control participants. From a clinical perspective, these early middle-aged retired athletes did not report more depression, anxiety, or stress, and they did not have worse cognitive functioning, than control subjects (although one retired player met clinical criteria for mild cognitive impairment [MCI]). They did, however, perform more poorly than controls on non-dominant fine motor coordination and speed, and their balance scores were correlated with lower levels of some neurometabolites. A significant difference between groups was observed in grey matter N-acetylaspartate (NAA), with significantly lower concentrations of NAA found in retired athletes. No significant differences were found in white matter NAA. Secondary analysis found a significant difference between groups in grey matter myo-inositol (mI), with retired players having lower concentrations compared to controls. There was a significant difference in grey matter glutathione, with retired players showing lower concentrations compared to controls. There were no significant difference between groups in grey matter choline or glutamate concentrations. In white matter, there were no statistically significant differences in any of the neurometabolites that were hypothesized to differ (mI, choline, glutamate, or glutathione). Conclusion: Rugby league is a contact sport with high incidence of concussions, which leads to participants being exposed to numerous concussions during their careers. The current series of studies adds enormously to rugby league concussion literature, which had previously been quite limited, as identified in the systematic review of the rugby league concussion literature (Chapter 2). The current series of studies characterised concussion at the professional level in current rugby league players; identifying antecedent events and risk factors, together with return to play management and decision-making. In addition to investigating current players, this series of studies also investigated cognition and neurometabolites in retired professional rugby league players. While the current series of studies identifies concussion as a common risk factor for participation in rugby league, the potential long-term consequences for rugby league players with a history of numerous concussions remains a topic requiring further investigation. In the small sample of retired players included in Study 3, not one player expressed significant concerns regarding their cognition and on neuropsychological assessment none of the retired rugby league players performed significantly below their estimated pre-morbid level of intellectual function. So for all intents and purposes the investigation was conducted in ‘asymptomatic’ retired rugby league players, however there were significant neurometabolic differences observed between groups on magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The clinical relevance of this finding also requires further investigation, but it may suggest that MRS is sensitive to possible pre-clinical symptomology that other methodologies (i.e., neuropsychological testing) are not sufficiently sensitive to detect.

No
Sport as a whole has recently been under greater scrutiny over the safety of its participants. The tragic death of Australian Test Cricketer Philip Hughes brought into stark focus the risk of head injury but there has also been greater awareness of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, concussion and use of performance enhancing drugs. Much of the research around concussion arises from what could be described as “collision” sports such as American football and ice hockey. The catalyst for discussions around concussion has tended to originate from these American sport. The significance of this increased awareness of safety has not been lost on the sport of rugby which has caused changes in practice in terms of concussion management but what appears not to have been fully appreciated is the additional risk of cervical spine injury associated with the sport.

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Business.
This thesis was concerned with diversity management in professional rugby league football in Australia. It examined the workplace perceptions and expectations of two groups: Pasifika (Pacific Islander and Māori) employees and their non-Pasifika employers in the National Rugby League (NRL), the premier rugby competition in Australasia. The study sought to explore whether Pasifika workplace perceptions, expectations, and contributions aligned with diversity management practices in the NRL. The study adopted an interdisciplinary approach that incorporated both Pacific Studies and diversity management. It drew upon psychological contract (PC) theory in order to understand workplace experiences. These were explored via a culturally appropriate 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘢 approach to interpersonal dialogue, this involving exchange of conversations, stories and ideas with 40 relevant individuals in the NRL. The findings revealed that Pasifika employees in the NRL place greater emphasis on 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 aspects of the exchange relationship, specifically drawing upon familial motivations, cultural values and customs, as well as community service and spirituality. The study was able to contribute to sport management scholarship in two key ways. First, by advancing qualitative research into Pasifika workplace experiences – both on and off the field – in elite rugby league. Second, the thesis broadened the scope of psychological contract research to encompass diversity management considerations – in this case by generating knowledge about how Pasifika employees navigate Western workplaces.

During the later stages of sporting competition, a decrease in performance is regularly observed and is often attributed to fatigue. Although, it is unclear if the decrement of performance is exclusively due to physiological fatigue or an indicator of a decline in decision-making (DM) performance. Rugby league (RL) is a highly physical and tactical team sport wherein players are required to make decisions under time and fatigued based constraints. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of match-related fatigue on DM in junior RL players. A secondary aim of this study was to compare positional playing groups, forwards and backs, and determine if fatigue differentially effects DM performance. Twenty male junior RL players (mean ± standard deviation: age 15.9 ± 0.9 years, body mass 87.3 ± 14.3 kg, height 1.82 ± 0.07 m, playing experience 10.2 ± 2.4 years, predicted VO2max 47.42 ± 3.69 mL.kg-1.min-1) completed a match simulation protocol (MSP) that replicated the physiological demands of an elite junior RL match. DM performance was measured pre, mid and post match simulation via a reactive agility test and video-based temporal occlusion task. Upper and lower body neuromuscular measures (countermovement jump and plyometric push up) were also applied prior to DM assessments to quantify fatigue. Ratings of perceived exertion were obtained immediately post exercise at mid and post MSP. Two-way mixed ANOVA was utilised to assess any changes in temporal occlusion, reactive agility test and neuromuscular fatigue (countermovement jump etc.) at the time points of pre, mid and post MSP and to compare positional playing groups (forwards and backs). Paired T tests for rating of perceived exertion measures, as they were only taken mid and post MSP. In the event of a significant main effect, post hoc comparisons were made using a Bonferroni correction. Significance was accepted at p < 0.05. The main finding of this study was despite observing a decline in neuromuscular function during the MSP, this decline did not significantly affect DM performance. Additionally, there was no significant difference between forwards and backs DM performance throughout the MSP. These results suggest elite junior RL players are capable of processing information during a progressively fatiguing match simulation. The results of this study are beneficial for elite level junior RL coaching staff as it highlights DM practice during fatiguing conditions is not an aspect of training that requires attention.

Yes
Background: The importance of optimal and/or superior vision for participation in high-level sport remains the subject of considerable clinical research interest. Here we examine the vision and visual history of elite/near-elite cricketers and rugby-league players. Methods: Stereoacuity (TNO), colour vision, and distance (with/without pinhole) and near visual acuity (VA) were measured in two cricket squads (elite/international-level, female, n=16; near-elite, male, n=23) and one professional rugby-league squad (male, n=20). Refractive error was determined, and details of any correction worn and visual history were recorded. Results: Overall, 63% had their last eye-examination within 2 years. However, some had not had an eye examination for 5 years, or had never had one (near-elite-cricketers: 30%; rugby-league players: 15%; elite-cricketers: 6%). Comparing our results for all participants to published data for young, optimally-corrected, non-sporting adults, distance VA was ~1 line of letters worse than expected. Adopting α=0.01, the deficit in distance-VA deficit was significant, but only for elite-cricketers (p<0.001) (near-elite cricketers, p=0.02; rugby-league players, p=0.03). Near-VA did not differ between subgroups or relative to published norms for young adults (p>0.02 for all comparisons). On average, stereoacuity was better than in young adults, but only in elite-cricketers (p<0.001; p=0.03, near-elite-cricketers; p=0.47, rugby-league -players). On-field visual issues were present in 27% of participants, and mostly (in 75% of cases) comprised uncorrected ametropia. Some cricketers (near-elite: 17.4%; elite: 38%) wore refractive correction during play but no rugby-league player did. Some individuals with prescribed correction choose not to wear it when playing. Conclusion: Aside from near stereoacuity in elite-cricketers, these basic visual abilities were not better than equivalent, published data for optimally-corrected adults. 20-25% exhibited sub-optimal vision, suggesting that the clearest possible vision might not be critical for participation at the highest levels in the sports of cricket or rugby-league. Although vision could be improved in a sizeable proportion of our sample, the impact of correcting these, mostly subtle, refractive anomalies on playing performance is unknown.
Funded by the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) grants BB/J018163/1, BB/J016365/1 and BB/J018872/1.

Masters Research - Masters of Philosophy (MPhil)
Background: Rugby league is a full-contact collision sport that carries a high risk of sport-related concussion. There are few studies in rugby league that utilise video analysis and wearable head impact sensor data together to investigate head impact exposures across a full season. Purpose: To verify wearable head impact sensor data using video analysis and describe game-play characteristics and head biomechanics that contribute to concussion in rugby league. Methods: The x-PatchTM was used for a season of men’s semi-professional and junior boys representative level rugby league. A total of twenty-nine players were monitored and game-day footage by a trained videographer was recorded and analysed to verify head impacts and describe impact rates, playing and gameplay characteristics of video-verified head impacts. Results: The x-PatchTM recorded a total of 1,403 impacts 20g between game start and finish across the two studies in this thesis, of which 1,296 (92%) were verified on video. In study ,1 the number of video-verified impacts 20g, per playing hour, was 7.8 for forwards and 4.8 for backs. Impacts resulting in concussion had a much greater peak linear acceleration (M = 76.1g, SD = 17.0) than impacts that did not result in concussion (M = 34.2g, SD = 18.0; Cohen’s d = 2.4). Study 2 found 73.2% of all verified impacts 20g where determined to be direct head impacts and occurred at a rate of 5.2 impacts per game hour. Conclusion: There were high rates of agreement between video-verified and sensor recorded game play impacts 20g and also a number of triggered events that occurred during gameplay that did not correlate with an impact on video review. The use of a secondary source, such as video review, to verify x-PatchTM recorded impacts is extremely important when analysing total head impact exposure as failure to remove ‘false-positive’ impacts may inflate player’s cumulative and average head impact exposures.

Injury has both physical and psychological sequelae for athletes. In addition to this, psychological variables influence the nature and duration of the injury experience. Psychological research into the injury experiences of professional rugby league players is limited and fragmented. The aim of the research was to determine which psychological variables may be related to the subsequent injury experiences of professional rugby league players. During a two year prospective study, professional level rugby league players (N=53) completed psychometric scales and had their injury experiences recorded. The psychometric scales utilised consisted of the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS) and the Extended Attributional Style Questionnaire (EASQ). The injury variables included the number of injuries, injury severity, and time taken to resume playing. A comparison of playing position indicated that forwards spent less time on the field due to being involved with a greater amount of full body contact (F1, 47=16.78, p=0.00; d=0.98). Forwards sustained more injuries than backs as a result of more physical contact (F1, 47=4.21, p=0.04; d=0.24). Such differences supports the continued differentiation between playing position in future studies on professional rugby league players. Discriminant function analysis revealed one significant function (λ = 0.15, p<0.01) indicating that professional rugby league players, who are overloaded by information (OIT), have lowered self-esteem (SES), and lower physical orientation (PO) had more severe injuries. Classification procedures correctly classified 84.9% of participants into their respective injury severity groups. The TAIS and the EASQ had adequate test-retest reliability indicating attentional, control, interpersonal and attributional variables to be stable over time. Spearman rank order correlations between TAIS and EASQ subscales revealed that players who tend to make global attributions were more likely to have better attentional style (p<0.05), less likely to become overloaded (p<0.01), process information more successfully (p<0.01) and have higher self-esteem (p<0.01). Participants who made both global and stable attributions were more likely to have better attentional style (p<0.05), less likely to become overloaded by information (p<0.01), were less impulsive (p<0.05) and had higher self-esteem (p<0.01). In the instance of stable attributions, individuals were less likely to worry (p<0.05) and better able to express themselves (p<0.05). When explanatory style was compared with severity of injury, players who made global (F2, 53=5.91, p=0.00, d=0.86) and stable (F2, 53=5.60, p=0.00; d=0.84) attributions had a higher proportion of severe injury ratings. Utilisation of a prospective design is recommended for future research with injured athletes. Further research on the mechanisms underlying the relationship between attentional and attributional style and injury is recommended.

Masters Research - Master of Philosophy
Introduction Forty-six elite adolescent male rugby league players (12-17 years) participated in a nine-week study to determine the effects of three exercise training programs on 0-30 metres sprint running time and bounds performance (10 bounds). Subjects were randomly assigned to a rugby league fitness group (F) n=12, a sprint group (S) n= 14 and a sprint-bounds group (SB) n= 20. Forty-two subjects completed the study. Methods: Separate sessions for fitness, speed, and bounds were conducted once a week for nine weeks. To determine the effect of training a two-way analysis of variance was performed, followed by post-hoc paired t-tests to allow pairwise comparisons when significant interactions were found. Significance was set at p<0.05. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS for Mac (version 13.1). Effect sizes were calculated to evaluate the meaningfulness of observed changes. Results: Moderate improvements (p<0.05; 5%) were observed in both the F and SB groups over 10 m. Speed changes over 30 m differed more among the groups. The F group recorded moderate (p<0.01; 4%) improvements, small improvements (p<0.01; 3%) in the SB group and trivial difference (p<0.05) in the S group. The F and S groups improved by approximately 7% (p<0.01) in bounds performance over 10 bounds whereas the SB group improved by approximately 10% (p<0.01) in bounds performance over 10 bounds. Group S had faster sprint times (p<0.05) prior to training compared to groups F and SB. Discussion: All three programs led to improvements in sprint speed and bounds distance, but the extent of the improvements varied with the specificity of the training program and pre-training performance level. Groups F and SB had 4-5% improvements in sprint speed over 30 m whereas group S showed relatively trivial changes. In all groups, the improvements were greater over 10 m and least over 30 m. Bounds distance improved more than sprint speed, and the greatest improvement was achieved in the SB group compared to the F and S groups. Conclusion: Rugby league training (game specific drills and extended efforts) coupled with the various components of physical activity can improve speed and power as effectively as specific speed and power training in adolescent boys. Training for acceleration can selectively improve 0-10 m speed more than 0-30 m speed. Sprint and bounds training have been shown to be safe and effective methods to increase speed and power in this group of adolescents.