Head acceleration event (HAE) exposure is a concern in sport owing to potential effects on brain health. Despite growth in the sport's growing in popularity, HAE exposure in women’s rugby league has yet to be quantified. The aim of the study was to examine HAE incidence and probability across Women’s Super League rugby league players, including position- and player-specific HAE incidence and probability. Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) were worn by 136 players during the 2024 season, across 48 video-analysed matches, resulting in 568 player matches with iMG data. The incidence of HAEs and the probability of HAEs from ball-carries and tackle attempts were estimated using generalised linear mixed models and average positions on an individual-player basis. The average incidence of HAEs exceeding 25 g ranged from 0.40 to 0.65 per median playing time for back positions and 0.54 to 0.66 for forward positions. The probability of recording an HAE exceeding 25 g during a ball-carry was 1.33

Objective This review aimed to establish the contributors to negative biopsychosocial outcomes in rugby, defined as unexpected adverse changes in players’ physical, psychological, social or health status.Design Systematic review.Data sources PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus and CINAHL.Eligibility criteria Studies were eligible if they investigated a physical, psychological or social factor which results in a negative biopsychosocial outcome in men’s or women’s rugby union, league or sevens. Studies were excluded if they did not differentiate outcome measures between rugby and other sports or did not differentiate outcome measures (ie, positive or negative) between physical/psychological/social factors and other factors.Results 9165 studies were identified in the initial search and two studies were identified from reference lists, 151 of which met the inclusion criteria (104 rugby union, 46 rugby league, 6 rugby sevens; 141 men, 16 women; 37 youth populations). 29 contributor groups and eight negative biopsychosocial outcome groups were identified. Previous injury (n=26), physical characteristics (n=32), training and match load (n=30) and factors within the contact event (n=22) were the most identified contributor groups. The negative biopsychosocial outcome of injury was investigated by 84% of studies.Conclusion Overall, the systematic review summarises the contributors to negative biopsychosocial outcomes within the current evidence base. There is a focus on previous injury, physical characteristics, training and match load and factors within the contact event as contributors to negative biopsychosocial outcomes. Eight studies investigated women’s cohorts independently from men; this underrepresentation within the literature could lead to the potential omittance of women-specific contributors.Prospero registration https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42022346751

ABSTRACT This study investigated head acceleration event (HAE) probabilities between common contact‐drills in rugby league. Fifteen professional male academy players participated in three training sessions, completing standardised contact‐drills while wearing custom‐fitted iMGs, all sessions were filmed. HAE data (peak linear acceleration and peak angular acceleration) were captured, synchronised, and processed alongside video data. Binomial logistic regression and ordinal mixed‐effect regression models were used to calculate overall and exceedance probabilities. Data included 1402 (93 ± 50 per player) contact‐drill observations, of which 133 had HAEs ≥ 5 g (9 ± 8 per player). Substantial variability in probability for HAEs ≥ 5 g (1.3%–41.3%) was observed across drills. Standing wrestle had the highest HAE ≥ 5 g probability (41.3%; CI: 31.0%–52.3%), while tackle shield hits at 1 m had the lowest (1.3%; CI: 0.5%–3.4%). HAE probability was greater for tacklers than ball‐carriers. Overall, probability of a HAE ≥ 25 g was < 1.1%. Standardised contact‐drills varied in HAE probabilities, but chances of higher magnitude HAEs was low for all drills. Overall, the probability of a HAE during standardised contact‐drills was low, although practitioners should consider the differences (i.e., the variability) in HAE probabilities when managing HAE training exposure.

ABSTRACTObjectivesContact with the head should be avoided during a rugby league tackle, given the inherent risks of head injuries. This study aimed to characterise a sample of tackles, retrospectively identified as resulting in a potential head injury by the Rugby Football League (RFL) match review panel.DesignRetrospective video analysis study.Methods746 tackles, identified by the RFL match review panel from the men's 2018 and 2019 Super League seasons, were analysed. Video clips were coded using an adapted analysis framework, characterising tackle stage, head contact, affected player, offending player/surface, offending body part/surface and tackle sanctioning. Data were reported as frequencies and percentages.ResultsThe majority of tackles resulting in a potential head injury occurred in the initial tackle contact stage (n = 590, 79.2%). The ball‐carrier was most frequently affected (n = 372, 49.9%) compared to initial tacklers (n = 213, 28.6%). The initial tackler was the most frequently impacting player (n = 268, 36.0%), with the majority of potential head injuries occurring from direct head contact by the arm (n = 230, 34.1%), shoulder (n = 170, 25.2%) and head/neck (n = 145, 21.5%) of the impacting player. Head contact was present in 90.6% (n = 675) of the tackles resulting in a potential head injury. Of the sample of tackles, 16.1% (n = 109) of direct head contact events received a sanction from on‐field match officials.ConclusionThe initial tackle contact between the ball‐carrier and initial tackler remains the area of focus for research into potential head injuries in elite‐level men's rugby league, to improve awareness and understanding of the mechanisms of injury.

This study aimed to describe the incidence of head acceleration events (HAEs) during pitch-based in-season training and matches in professional male rugby league. Data were recorded using instrumented mouthguards from 108 players (70 forwards and 38 backs) at nine Super League teams (2024 season), resulting in 468 player-training sessions and 665 player-matches included. Peak linear and angular acceleration were calculated from each HAE and analyzed using generalized linear mixed-effects models. During the 468 player-training sessions, 814 HAEs above the lowest magnitude threshold (5 g and 400 rad.s-2) were observed and the mean HAE incidence rate per player-hour was 1.52 (95% confidence intervals; 1.34-1.70). This was substantially lower than matches (25.78 [23.28-28.27] per player-hour) with HAE incidence being 17 times greater during matches compared to training (incidence rate ratio 16.96 [14.92-19.01]). Higher magnitude HAEs had a lower incidence in both training and matches (e.g., > 25 g 0.04 [0.02-0.06] and 2.01 [1.79-2.24] per player-hour). Out of 468 player-training sessions, 307 (~66%) had no HAEs > 10 g and 441 (~94%) had no HAEs > 25 g. Overall, the incidence rates of HAEs during training were low and substantially lower than match-play. However, a small proportion of relatively high in magnitude HAEs do occur during training, which could be the target of prevention interventions in training. However, given the different HAE rates between training and matches, interventions targeting matches (e.g., law modifications or reduced exposure) would have a larger effect on reducing HAEs for players than training interventions.

There is growing concern that exposure to head acceleration events (HAEs) may be associated with long-term neurological effects. To quantify the incidence and probability of HAEs during men’s professional rugby league match-play on a group and individual basis using instrumented mouthguards (iMGs). A total of 91 men’s professional rugby league players participating in the 2023 Super League season wore iMGs, resulting in the collection of 775 player matches (mean 8.3 matches per player). Incidence of HAEs (rate of HAEs per median playing time) was calculated via generalised linear mixed models. Probability of HAEs (likelihood of experiencing an HAE during a tackle-event) was calculated using an ordinal mixed effects regression model. The mean incidence of HAEs exceeding 25 g per median playing time ranged from 0.86–1.88 for back positions and 1.83–2.02 for forward positions. The probability of exceeding 25 g during a tackle event was higher for ball-carriers (6.29

Objectives: Quantify and identify factors associated with concussion underreporting in Super League rugby league players.Design: Cross sectional survey.Methods: During the 2022 season preseason, 422 Men's and Women's Super League players completed an online survey quantifying player demographics, rugby playing history, concussion history, prevalence of, and reasons for underreporting concussion, concussion knowledge and long-term implications and perceptions of concussion.Results: Overall, 20% of respondents stated they did not report concussion-related symptoms to medical staff during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The two most common reasons for underreporting concussion were 'didn't want to be ruled out of a match' (35%) and 'didn't want to let down team' (24%). 65% of players reported an appropriate level of knowledge about concussion and potential long-term implications at the start of their senior rugby career, versus 89% now. In relation to concussion knowledge, symptoms were correctly identified on 74% of occasions. 57% of players surveyed were concerned about the potential long-term implications from concussion, and 11% of players would encourage their/family members' children to not play rugby league. Conclusions: The proportion of Super League players who did not report concussion symptoms was similar to rugby league players in Australia. The main reasons for not reporting concussion appeared to be due to perceptions of what is beneficial for the team, suggesting both performance and medical staff should collectively encourage players to report concussion. A player's attitude towards concussion is potentially an individual modifiable risk factor and should be considered within the concussion management of players.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Sports Medicine Australia. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

To prevent the spread of infection during matches and training activities is a major challenge facing all sports returning from the enforced COVID-19 shutdown. During training and matches, rugby league players make contact with others which can result in SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission. While these interactions characterise the appeal of the game, a number of them can be avoided, including shaking hands and conversing after the match. This paper presents a framework underpinned by behavioural science (capability, opportunity, motivation and behaviour model, COM-B) to support stakeholders in helping players adopt new social distance norms and behaviours. This framework helps to ensure the players have the capability, opportunity, and motivation to adopt new COVID-19 risk minimising behaviours, which they will need to commit to 100%.