Rugby Football League announces injury prevention study in women's game
The Rugby Football League has announced that players from the Betfred Women‘s Super League will be taking part in a season-long injury and concussion study.
The project is aiming to reduce the level of injuries and improve general standards ahead of the 2021 World Cup.
The season-long study is being conducted by Leeds Beckett University and is hoping to improve the knowledge around the demands placed on women’s rugby league players throughout a match.
A similar project has been running in the men’s game for the last five seasons.
Throughout the 2020 season players will wear GPS trackers in certain matches to help establish a better understanding of the current structure of women’s rugby league.
Approximately 200 female athletes from the 10 Super League teams are already having their pre-season fitness data collected ahead of the opening fixtures on March 29th.
Professor Ben Jones, the head of performance for England Rugby League who is leading the study said;
“This study will help us understand what the biggest risks are to female players from a welfare perspective,”
“What does their training look like? What are their match demands? That allows us to put in interventions to improve performance and prevent injury.
“The data will provide information on the physical profile of female rugby league players and how they change over a season which will support coaches on how to train the female athlete and, in turn, drive forward performance and standards, creating more competition and more world-class players.”
Approximately 200 female athletes from the 10 Super League teams are already having their pre-season fitness data collected ahead of the opening fixtures on March 29th.
Professor Ben Jones, the head of performance for England Rugby League who is leading the study said;
“This study will help us understand what the biggest risks are to female players from a welfare perspective,”
“What does their training look like? What are their match demands? That allows us to put in interventions to improve performance and prevent injury.
“The data will provide information on the physical profile of female rugby league players and how they change over a season which will support coaches on how to train the female athlete and, in turn, drive forward performance and standards, creating more competition and more world-class players.”