Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects that the recent seasonal change in rugby league from winter to summer has had on the incidence of injury. METHODS: All injuries that occurred during games and training were recorded throughout four consecutive seasons (three winter, one summer) for the first team squad of a British professional rugby league club. Data included nature of injury, days lost as the result of injury, player position, month, and season. RESULTS: An increasing incidence of injury over the four seasons was observed, with the summer seasons having an incidence almost double that of the first winter season recorded (696.8 per 1000 hours and 363.55 per 1000 hours respectively). The severity of injury was shown to decline over the four seasons. Most injuries were incurred in matches (74.9%) rather than during training (25.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The findings show an increasing incidence of injury in summer rugby but with decreased severity. It is not known if this is the result of playing back to back rugby seasons or is a consequence of a change in playing season and ground conditions.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (96.1 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Alexander D., Kennedy M., Kennedy J. Injuries in Rugby League football. Med J Aust. 1979 Oct 6;2(7):341–342. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1979.tb104138.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Alexander D., Kennedy M., Kennedy J. Rugby league football injuries over two competition seasons. Med J Aust. 1980 Sep 20;2(6):334–335. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1980.tb77020.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Garraway M., Macleod D. Epidemiology of rugby football injuries. Lancet. 1995 Jun 10;345(8963):1485–1487. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(95)91040-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gibbs N. Injuries in professional rugby league. A three-year prospective study of the South Sydney Professional Rugby League Football Club. Am J Sports Med. 1993 Sep-Oct;21(5):696–700. doi: 10.1177/036354659302100510. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Seward H., Orchard J., Hazard H., Collinson D. Football injuries in Australia at the élite level. Med J Aust. 1993 Sep 6;159(5):298–301. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1993.tb137863.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sparks J. P. Half a million hours of rugby football. The injuries. Br J Sports Med. 1981 Mar;15(1):30–32. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.15.1.30. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stephenson S., Gissane C., Jennings D. Injury in rugby league: a four year prospective survey. Br J Sports Med. 1996 Dec;30(4):331–334. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.30.4.331. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taylor T. K., Coolican M. R. Spinal-cord injuries in Australian footballers, 1960-1985. Med J Aust. 1987 Aug 3;147(3):112-3, 116-8. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]