Cooperative passing network features are associated with successful match outcomes in the Australian Football League

Collective behaviour is an important component of team performance in team sports. This study used a binomial generalised linear mixed effects regression model to investigate the relationship between cooperative passing network characteristics and match outcomes of professional Australian Football League competition games across four seasons between 2016 and 2019. It divided a sample of 1629 observations into a training and testing partition used to develop and assess the validity of the model used in this study, respectively. The results of this study reveal that a team's connectedness is associated with the probability of winning Australian Football League games (Akaike Information Criterion = 1637.3, residual df= 1297, deviance = 1625.3). When most players within a team are involved in the team's passing network bidirectionally (i.e. a well-connected network; odds ratio = 1.053; 95% confidence interval: 4.2–6.5%, p < 0.001), teams have a higher probability of winning. The centralisation of a team's passing network was not significantly related to match outcomes. The classification accuracy for the model associating network characteristics with match outcomes was 69%. Collectively, these findings suggest that Australian Football League-specific network features should be incorporated within existing performance analysis methods and can provide a useful, practical tool for coaches to measure collective performance during team practice.

Television commentary on women's and men's Australian Rules football: A thematic analysis

Commentators are reported to describe male and female players in different ways across a range of sports. The present study examines televised commentary on men's and women's games in the Australian Football League during the inaugural season of the women's professional competition. A two-phase thematic analysis was applied to television commentary on 10 men's and 10 women's Australian Rules football games. Semantic thematic analysis of the broad descriptive categories used by commentators for men's and women's matches indicated greater similarity than had been reported for televised commentary of other sports like tennis, in line with recent reports of progress towards greater gender equality in sports media reporting. Although technical descriptors were used slightly more frequently in describing men's play, there were no major differences in frequency for a number of other descriptive categories (mental, physical, personal or tactical) that have previously been observed as discriminating commentary on men's and women's sport. More in-depth, discursive thematic analysis did indicate some specific patterns of difference: terms, features and details used in commentary resulted in a greater focus on women's athletic weaknesses, and negative aspects of their skills and mentality. Identification of subtle linguistic features that minimise the athleticism and accomplishments of female players suggests that continued examination of media reporting on women's increasing involvement in traditional male sports can contribute important insights for promoting gender equality.

A Pilot Study on the Impact of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Elite Australian Football Athletes

The effect of the menstrual cycle on athlete performance, wellbeing and perceived exertion and fatigue is not well understood. Furthermore, it has not been investigated specifically in Australian Football athletes. This pilot study aimed to explore how naturally menstruating Australian Football athletes may be affected by menstrual cycle phase. The data collected from the routine monitoring of five naturally menstruating athletes (average menstrual cycle length of 28 ± 3 [SD] days) in one team (athlete age range 18–35 years) competing in the Women’s Australian Football League during the 2019 season were retrospectively analysed to compare performance (countermovement jump parameters and adductor squeeze pressure), perceived exertion, perceived fatigue and wellbeing (perceived sleep quality, stress and soreness) outcomes between the follicular and luteal phases. Performance, perceived exertion, stress and soreness did not appear to be affected by menstrual cycle phase (p > 0.17). However, perceived fatigue appeared to be significantly greater (p = 0.042) and sleep quality worse (p = 0.005) in the luteal phase. This pilot study suggests further research focusing on the effect of menstrual cycle phase on subjective fatigue and wellbeing is warranted.

Return to Professional Australian Rules Football After Surgery for Traumatic Anterior Shoulder Instability

Background: The treatment of traumatic anterior shoulder instability in professional Australian Football League (AFL) players is challenging, with an emphasis on early return to play and avoidance of instability recurrence. Purpose: To investigate return-to-sport (RTS) outcomes and complications after 2 different procedures for traumatic anterior shoulder instability in professional AFL players. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our surgical database for professional AFL players who underwent capsulolabral stabilization or open Latarjet procedure by a single surgeon between 2006 and 2017. Outcomes included RTS, on-field performance, and complications. Between-group analyses for RTS and complications were estimated using Kaplan-Meier survival analyses. Within-group analyses for on-field performance data were performed using paired t tests with significance set at .05. Results: A total of 58 capsulolabral stabilization procedures in 54 players and 32 Latarjet procedures in 29 players were included in the analysis; 93.1% of capsulolabral patients and 96.9% of Latarjet patients returned to professional AFL. The median RTS time was 6.8 months for the capsulolabral group and 7.3 months for the Latarjet group. There was no significant difference in RTS rates between the 2 groups ( P = .270). Of those undergoing surgery early in the season, 75% of the capsulolabral and 71% of Latarjet group were able to RTS within the same season, at a mean time of 16.9 weeks and 18.8 weeks, respectively. There was a significant difference in instability recurrence, with 19% for the capsulolabral group and no recurrence in the Latarjet group ( P = .017). There was no significant reduction in player on-field performance in either group ( P < .05). Conclusion: In this study, the median RTS in AFL players was approximately 7 months after capsulolabral and Latarjet surgery with no compromise to on-field performance. Instability-related complications occurred only in the capsulolabral group, and the incidence increased with time.

Physical and Anthropometric Characteristics Do Not Differ According to Birth Year Quartile in High-Level Junior Australian Football Players

The aim of this study was to explore differences in the physical fitness and anthropometric profiles between birth year quartiles of players attending the Australian Football League (AFL) National Draft Combine. Date of birth, anthropometric, 20 m sprint, vertical and running vertical jump, AFL planned agility, and 20 m Multi-Stage Fitness Test (MSFT) data were obtained for players selected to attend the Combine between 1999 and 2019 (n = 1549; Mage = 18.1; SDage = 0.3). The underlying density distributions of the data were visually explored using violin plots overlaid with box and whisker plots. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was then used to model the main effect of birth quartile (four levels) on the physical and anthropometric scores. Results showed that physical and anthropometric test scores did not significantly differ according to birth quartile (V = 0.008, F = 0.880, p = 0.631). We conclude that the physical and anthropometric profiles of high-level junior Australian Football players were similar according to birth year quartile across the modeled period. Therefore, how players utilize their physical and anthropometric attributes during game-play via contextualized, representative assessments, such as small-sided games, should be considered when examining potential causes of a RAE.

Increased carbohydrate availability effects energy and nutrient periodisation of professional male athletes from the Australian Football League

This research aims to explore the effect of increased carbohydrate availability intervention on energy intake and distribution in professional Australian Football athletes. Six 24-h energy and macronutrient intakes were quantified (n= 19 males; age 24 ±4 y, stature 187 ±8 cm, mass 87 ±9 kg) using photographic food diaries and Foodworks analyses. Energy expenditure was estimated for the same period using GeneActiv accelerometers. During three control days, athletes had ad libitum access to food, while the three intervention days increased carbohydrate availability, through greater prompting and access to carbohydrate foods. Daily energy intake was higher during intervention (185 ±40 kJ/kg/d) compared with control (172 ±31 kJ/kg/d; p<0.05) but remained below estimated expenditure, and carbohydrate intake was also greater with intervention (5.0 ±0.2 g/kg/d) than control (4.0 ±0.2 g/kg/d; p<0.05). Expenditure was highest during the morning which coincided with lowest intake on all days, while the intervention was associated with greater carbohydrate intake in the morning (0.6 g/kg, p< 0.05) compared with control. Increasing availability of carbohydrate during high-load training generated a modest increase in carbohydrate and energy intake, and the intervention was most effective in improving carbohydrate intake during mornings. Novelty Bullets • Increased access and provision of carbohydrate foods increased carbohydrate consumption and energy intake on high training load days. • Daily distribution of energy intake can be modified through actively promoting carbohydrate consumption.