Australian Rules Football Team Research Articles

Preseason and In-Season High-Speed Running Demands of 2 Professional Australian Rules Football Teams.

Australian Rules Football athletes complete long preseasons, yet injuries occur frequently at early stages of the competitive season. Little is known about the high-speed running (HSR) prescription during a preseason or whether players are adequately prepared for competition. This study described absolute and relative preseason and in-season HSR demands of 2 professional Australian football teams. HSR and sprinting volumes are significantly lower in elite Australian Rules football athletes during in-season compared with preseason. Cohort study. Level 3. During the 2019 season, HSR volume was collected for 2 professional Australian football teams (n = 55). Individual maximum speeds (Vmax) were captured to calculate relative running speed thresholds, as reported in 5% increments from 70%Vmax to 100%Vmax. Weekly volume of running above 70%Vmax (P = 0.01; r = 0.56) and 80%Vmax (P = 0.01; r = 0.58) was significantly greater in the preseason than the in-season. The weekly volume completed above 90%Vmax was not significantly greater in the preseason than the in-season (P = 0.10; r = 0.22). Individual variation in the distance completed at specific percentages of Vmax expressed as a coefficient of variation was reported as 51% at 71% to 80%Vmax, 39% at 81% to 90%Vmax, and 41% at 91% to 100%Vmax. The volume of HSR completed by athletes is far greater in the initial 4 weeks of the preseason than in any other point in preseason or competitive phases. At the individual level, there is substantial variation in the distance covered. This supports the concept of a heavily individualized approach to high-speed prescription and monitoring. Practitioners should carefully consider individual variation regarding sprinting volume during both preseason and in-season when prescribing and monitoring training to improve on-field performance and reduce the risk of injury.

Does game-based training replicate match inside-50 entries in elite Australian Rules football?

The purpose of this research was to determine if the training design of an elite Australian Rules football team replicated match conditions for inside-50 entries. Notational analyses of one professional Australian Rules football club's training and match footage were conducted for every disposal that entered the inside-50 during either game-based training or matches. Analysed variables included how the ball was received, time in possession and location. Statistical analyses were undertaken using Mann–Whitney tests, a multivariate analysis of variance and a decision tree analysis. Significant differences were identified between game-based training and competition matches for 34 of the 54 inside-50 entry variables. Of these 34 variables, 10 showed a strong effect between session types. When examining the efficiency of inside-50 entries, only effective disposals produced a significant difference between training and matches, with no differences for neutral and ineffective disposals. The session type, how the ball was received, decision (e.g., kick vs. handball) and pressure acts were the most important contributors to effective inside-50 entry disposal efficiency. The results suggest this professional Australian Rules team does not participate in training sessions that reflect inside-50 match conditions. This study may provide a framework for elite Australian Rules teams on which to structure their inside-50 training.

Hamstring injuries and Australian Rules football: over-reliance on Nordic hamstring exercises as a preventive measure?

Nordic hamstring exercises (NHE) are promoted as an evidence-based strategy for reducing the prevalence of hamstring injuries in football, with a number of studies showing a significant reduction in hamstring injury rates following implementation of a NHE-based program. However, most of the research to date has been undertaken in soccer with less research carried out in other football codes. Despite this lack of relevant evidence, NHE has recently become popular as a preventative measure in Australian Rules football (ARF) teams; however, hamstring injuries remain high. This paper reviews the literature associated with the use of NHE for ARF players and questions the appropriateness of this exercise approach as a preventative measure for hamstring injuries in this sport. When considering the use of a preventative exercise program, such as the NHE, the specific risks associated with the sporting activity should be considered and the evidence reviewed in light of this. Whilst NHE provides an easy way to do eccentric exercises, the movement does not replicate what is needed in the real world for ARF and should therefore be included in a hamstring injury prevention program in this code with caution.

Sportscapes: Contested bodies, gender and desire within a female Australian rules football team

Despite the recent rise of female Australian rules football in the public eye, little research has explored the nuances of players’ experiences of gendered embodiment, performance, identity, desire and engagement in the sport. The aim of this article is to explore how spaces have the capacity to create, normalise and regulate gender, bodies, identity and desire through an analysis of a women’s Australian rules football team, a space that is neither dominated by heteronormativity and neither queer nor lesbian subcultures. Through analysis of photographs and photo-elicitation interviews, this paper seeks to explore how bodies, gender, desire and embodiment are experienced, perceived and contested by and through the lens of players, within this sportscape. The implications of this research are an insight into the fluid and complex dynamics of a particular sportscape and the capacity of such spaces to redefine belonging and normativity outside of dominant hetero-gendered discourses.

Children’s physical activity levels during organised sports practices

ObjectivesThis study measured the physical activity levels of children during practice sessions of four popular organised sports in Australia. DesignCross-sectional observational design. MethodsParticipants comprised children from four local organised sports clubs in suburban Adelaide, South Australia. The sports examined were Australian Rules Football (AFL), girls’ netball, boys’ soccer and girls’ soccer. Each participant wore a waist-mounted GT3X or GT3X+Actigraph accelerometer in either one or two of the practice sessions. ResultsParticipants typically spent 40–50% of each sport practice session in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Participants in the boys’ soccer teams spent significantly greater time in MVPA (mean=47% of practice time, 95% CI=37%, 57%) than participants in the girls’ netball teams (mean=40%, 95% CI=30%, 50%), participants in the girls’ soccer teams (mean=38%, 95% CI=28%, 48%) and participants in the boys’ AFL teams (mean=40%, 95% CI=36%, 44%). The practice sessions contributed approximately half of the 60min of MVPA per day recommended by physical activity guidelines for children and young people. ConclusionsThe results suggested that organised sports provide a supportive environment for physical activity accrual; however, one practice session is insufficient for children to reach the amount of MVPA recommended in daily physical activity guidelines.

Measurement of the head impacts in a sub-elite Australian Rules football team with an instrumented patch: An exploratory analysis

An investigation was made of the frequency, magnitude, and distribution of head impacts in Australian Football League players over a season of matches. In a prospective cohort analysis of impact magnitude, frequency, and distribution on data collected with a wireless head impact sensor worn behind the ear of 23 players, a total of 4903 impacts were recorded. Players experienced on average 407 ± 143 impacts over the duration of the study resulting in 30 ± 38 impacts per-player per-match. Linear accelerations ranged from 10 g to 153 g with a mean, median, and 95th percentile value of 17 g, 13 g, and 40 g, respectively. Rotational accelerations ranged from 130 rad/s2 to 21,890 rad/s2 with a mean, median, and 95th percentile value of 2426 rad/s2, 1556 rad/s2, and 7571 rad/s2, respectively. This study obtained initial measurements on the frequency, magnitude, distribution, and risk weighted exposure of head impacts in Australia Rules Football in order to better inform medical personnel in the identification and evaluation of at-risk players for concussion. The location of impacts varied considerably with the back of the head recording more total impacts than the front, side, and top. Midfielders sustained more impacts per-player, per-match, and had higher median resultant linear accelerations than forwards and defenders. The results of this study, in which most impacts were within the low severity limit for linear, rotational, HITSP, and RWECP, indicate that Australian Rules football needs to include more encompassing methods of examination of player exposure.

Mean girls, homosociality and football: an education on social and power dynamics between girls and women

Relationships between girls and women have typically been explored through the lexicon of ‘friendship’ or, where there is a presence of sexual desire, ‘lesbian’. This article suggests the complexity and impact of female (same-sex) sociality, and its relationship to heteronormativity and power dynamics between girls and women runs deeper than the terms ‘friendship’ or ‘lesbian’ give rise to. Exploring social and power dynamics amongst girls and women, this article explores how gender is policed and negotiated within a framework of homosociality. Drawing on empirical research within a women's Australian Rules football team, I explore the complexity of female same-sex bonds, the negotiation of gender embodiment and performance within female homosocial spaces, and the emergence of women's own lexicons in making sense of their relationships with other women in this particular social sphere, further considering how this might be applied to other female homosocial spaces, including same-sex educational and sporting sites.

Examining the Longitudinal Structure, Stability, and Dimensional Interrelationships of Team Identification

The propensity of strongly identified fans to contribute positive organizational outcomes for sport teams underpins why team identification maintains a central position in sport management. In the current study we examine the multidimensional structure, stability, and interrelationships between the dimensions of team identification, using longitudinal data (April 2011–April 2012) collected from fans of a new Australian Rules football team (N = 602). A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of the team identification items included (measured using the Team*ID scale), supported a five-dimensional model structure. This model was subsequently computed as a longitudinal CFA to test the configural and metric invariance of the Team*ID scale. We used a cross-lagged panel model to examine the longitudinal stability of, and interrelationships between, the dimensions: affect, behavioral involvement, cognitive awareness, private evaluation, and public evaluation. Each dimension displayed relative stability over time. In addition, public evaluation and private evaluation in April 2011 displayed a positive relationship with behavioral involvement in April 2012. Similarly, cognitive awareness in April 2011 predicted increases in public evaluation in April 2012. We conclude with implications for theory and practice.

Application of GPS devices to longitudinal analysis on game and training data

In elite level team sport, the application of longitudinal data analysis is often overlooked due to the tools and techniques required for processing large quantities of data. The research presented in this paper explores the information available to coaches and players when looking at data taken from an entire first grade Australian Rules Football team for a full non-premiership season. Specifically this paper explores the relationship between training and game demand on an individual level as well as exploring the relative demand on different player field positions. The hardware used in this research was the GPSports SPI Inertial tracking unit. This device contained a GPS unit tracking at 5Hz providing the latitudinal and longitudinal position of the players. This GPS information was then extracted in order to reconstruct the speeds of the athlete throughout a game. This research found strong correlations between the overall intensities of the training sessions and the physical demand of first grade games. It also identified small differences in the demand of different on field positions.

The match day use of ultrasound during professional football finals matches

ObjectivesTo describe the use of ultrasound by a professional Australian rules football team in the immediate pregame period to guide local anaesthetic injections, during game time to assess injuries and...

Rainbow Blindness: Same-Sex Partnerships in Post-Coalitional Australia

Rainbow Blindness: Same-Sex Partnerships in Post-Coalitional Australia

Boys Becoming Men: What Makes a Difference?

In 1983 an Under 17 Australian Rules Football team visited Melbourne. They came from Townsville in North Queensland and the majority were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. For several months prior to the trip they worked to raise the money and resources they needed for the trip. This paper describes the preliminary results of a research project that looked at the health of this group 25 years later. What can we learn from their experience in 1983? What can they tell us about the health of the next generation of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men? The research project used a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods. It included a questionnaire, interviews, workshop and a focus group. All of those involved in 1983 are still alive. Over a range of social and economic indicators many score very well but there are signs, as with other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, of underlying health issues. Sport can provide for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men a culturally 'safe' place where important values across generations are developed and sustained.

A Victory for the Fans? Melbourne's New Football Club in Recent Historical Perspective[1

A new Association football team, Melbourne Victory, was created in Melbourne in 2005 as a founding member of the Australian A‐League. Within little more than a year it was drawing peak crowds of 50,000 to matches and averaged over 30,000. It was forced to move from an 18,000 capacity stadium to one holding 55,000. Previous new club foundations in the 1990s had not been successful, despite being associated with popular Australian Rules football teams, Collingwood and Carlton. The Victory, however, seems to have attracted a different and wider demographic to the game. For the first time the growth of the code in Australia in based on the domestic population, not waves of inward migration as was the case in the 1880s, 1920s and the post‐Second World War period. Preliminary studies of the fan base suggest that the future for the Victory is likely to be different from the recent past.

Custom-made mouthguards protect football players

A group randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted. Australian-rules football teams were randomly assigned to the test group (MG, custom-made mouthguards) or control group (usual mouthguard behaviour). The number of head or orofacial (H/O) injuries per 1000 person–hours of playing was recorded. Twenty-three Australian rules football teams were recruited of which 11 were randomised to the control group (n=111) and 12 to the test group (n=190). The majority of players, including those in the control group, wore mouthguards during games; fewer wore them every training session. Overall rate of H/O injuries was 2.7 per 1000 exposure–h, and was higher during games than training. When data were adjusted for division of play and age group there was evidence of a significant (P=0.04) protective effect of MG over control during games and training combined. The adjusted H/O injury incidence rate ratio was 0.56. Custom-made mouthguards provided a significant protective effect relative to usual mouthguard use during games.

Assessment of Physical Examination and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings of Hamstring Injury as Predictors for Recurrent Injury

Prospective cohort study. To examine clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of hamstring muscle injury to determine if any are predictive for recurrent injury. Hamstring muscle strain injury and subsequent recurrent injury are common. Little information exists on factors that may increase the risk for recurrent injury. The subjects were athletes from 3 professional Australian Rules football teams (n = 162). Anthropometric measurements, clinical signs, convalescent interval, and MRI assessment and measurement were undertaken and recorded in athletes with hamstring muscle strain injury. Athletes were followed for the presence, or absence, of recurrent injury to the same-side posterior thigh over the same and subsequent playing seasons. Thirty athletes met criteria for hamstring injury. Twelve (40%) of 30 athletes had recurrent injury within the same season, with an additional 7 athletes having recurrent injury in the subsequent season. None of the features examined were associated with increased recurrent injury risk within the same playing season. Statistical analysis demonstrated that when combining the same with the subsequent playing season a larger size of initial hamstring injury, as measured by MRI, was associated with an increased risk for recurrent injury (P<.01). A measured transverse size of injury greater than 55% of the muscle, or calculated volume of injury greater than 21.8 cm3, resulted in an increased risk for hamstring recurrence of 2.2 (95% CI, 0.88-5.32) and 2.3 (95% CI, 0.94-5.81) times, respectively, when compared to athletes with hamstring injuries below these measurements. A larger size of hamstring injury was indicative of higher risk for recurrent injury but only after the subsequent playing season was considered along with the same playing season. None of the other parameters tested, including a shorter convalescent interval and clinical features, were associated with an increased risk for recurrent injury. However, due to low sample size the certainty of these conclusions may be limited.

Just one of the boys? A life history case study of a male physical education teacher

Studies of physical education teacher training have already established that hegemonic forms of masculinity are reinforced and reproduced both in the hidden curriculum (Flintoff, 1997) and the informal student culture (Skelton, 1993). Given this, an important feminist concern is whether male PE teachers whose own masculine identities are anchored in their athletic prowess simply ‘teach’ their young male charges to construct hegemonic forms of masculinity through PE and school sport and/or whether they necessarily marginalize and inferiorize female students. This paper provides a life history case study of a male PE teacher’s role both in reproducing and challenging gendered norms in his capacity as coach of a schoolboy and schoolgirl Australian Rules football team.

Kicking like a Boy: Schoolgirl Australian Rules Football and Bi-Gendered Female Embodiment

This study of a schoolgirl Australian Rules football team uses life-history research to provide unusual insights into the gendered embodiment of female footballers. Focusing on the familial relations of players, the article looks at sport in the wider context of gender, showing complexities often overlooked. While documenting different patterns of female embodiment, the study examines whether the provision of full-contact sports is “schooling the bodies” of these young women in alternative forms of embodiment to those described by Young (1998) in “Throwing Like a Girl.” Specifically, this article addresses why the girls play football, whether they are consciously resisting male domination, whether playing football teaches them a different gendered embodiment, and how the girls deal with gender contradictions that arise from playing football.

The use of physical fitness scores and anthropometric data to predict selection in an elite under 18 Australian rules football team

This study was conducted to determine if anthropometric and fitness testing scores can be used to discriminate between players that were selected or not selected in an elite Under 18 Australian Rules Football side. A training squad of 40 Australian Rules Football players was assessed on a battery of standard anthropometric and fitness tests just prior to the selection of the 30 man player roster for the upcoming season. Results showed that the selected players were significantly (P<0.05) taller and had greater upper body strength than non-selected players. A discriminant analysis was performed which predicted with an accuracy of 80% whether each player was successful or unsuccessful in gaining selection. This suggested that physical conditioning and anthropometric measurements do play an important part in determining selection in elite junior Australian Rules Football teams. However the discriminant function predicted non-selected players (90.9%) better than it predicted selected players (75.9%). Selected Under 18 players were found to be similar to the values reported for elite to sub-elite senior players on height, sit and reach, CMJ and perhaps aerobic fitness, but considerably less than the senior players on 3RM bench press and body mass.