The evolution of Australian football

doi:10.1016/S1440-2440(99)80011-5

Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport

Volume 2, Issue 4, December 1999, Pages 389-404

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1440-2440(99)80011-5 Get rights and content

Australian football has undergone considerable change over the past century. This evolution seems to have accelerated more recently since the introduction and major influence of the media, increased professionalism and the start of a national competition. In this study we have attempted to quantify the evolution in game ‘style’ by measuring events during elite football games (from video analysis) and gathering physical information on players involved at the highest level. These data are important to gain insight into the game demands so that player preparation may be enhanced and when predicting the nature of the game in the future. Understanding the patterns of play within the game may also be useful when assessing the possible impact of rule changes, for example, increasing the number of interchange players on the potential for injury. Four games were selected, one from each of the past 4 decades to determine the rate at which specific, measurable events occurred in the games. Height and mass data on players were also obtained from official records of registered players in the VFL/AFL competitions. The results indicate the ‘speed’ of the game has approximately doubled in the period 1961 – 1997. The proportion of the total game which involves ‘play’ time has been reduced significantly while breaks in play are more frequent and longer. Despite this pattern, however, the average game tempo has increased along with player height and mass and we present a case which suggests these are likely determinants of the increased incidence of player injuries and lost match time.

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Cited by (53)

Evolution of World Cup soccer final games 1966-2010: Game structure, speed and play patterns
2014, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
Citation Excerpt :
While they are both increasing over time, the rate of change as indicated by the slopes of the regression lines, is almost 4-fold higher for the set shots, reinforcing the importance of these relatively rare game events in goal-scoring.19 Using the ball speed in a field sport such as soccer to quantify game speed has only rarely been reported.10,12,20 This is despite the fact ball speed has a fundamental bearing on the speed of player movement and decision-making, for example to intercept or reach a pass, determines a skill set that the game demands, and is routinely measured and reported in many other sports such as racquet (tennis and badminton), and throwing sports (cricket, softball and baseball).
There are relatively few performance analysis studies on field sports investigating how they evolve from a structural or tactical viewpoint. Field sports like soccer involve complex, non-linear dynamical systems yet consistent patterns of play are recognisable over time and among different sports. This study on soccer trends helps build a framework of potential causative mechanisms for these patterns.
Retrospective correlational study.
Broadcast footage of World Cup finals between 1966 and 2010 was used to assess patterns of play and stop periods, type and duration of game stoppages, ball speed, player density (congestion) and passing rates. This involved computer-based ball tracking and other notational analyses. These results were analysed using linear regression to track changes across time.
Almost every variable assessed changed significantly over time. Play duration decreased while stoppage duration increased, both affecting the work: recovery ratios. Ball (game) speed increased by 15% over the 44-year period. Play structure changed towards a higher player density with a 35% greater passing rate.
Increases in soccer ball speed and player density show similarities with other field sports and suggest common evolutionary pressures may be driving play structures. The increased intensity of play is paralleled by longer stoppage breaks which allow greater player recovery and subsequently more intense play. Defensive strategies dominate over time as demonstrated by increased player density and congestion. The long-term pattern formations demonstrate successful coordinated states within team structures are predictable and may have universal causative mechanisms.
Training and game loads and injury risk in elite Australian footballers
2013, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
To examine the relationship between combined training and game loads and injury risk in elite Australian footballers.
Prospective cohort study.
Forty-six elite Australian footballers (mean ± SD age of 22.2 ± 2.9 y) from one club were involved in a one-season study. Training and game loads (session-RPE multiplied by duration in min) and injuries were recorded each time an athlete exerted an exercise load. Rolling weekly sums and week-to-week changes in load were then modelled against injury data using a logistic regression model. Odds ratios (OR) were reported against a reference group of the lowest training load range.
Larger 1 weekly (>1750 AU, OR = 2.44–3.38), 2 weekly (>4000 AU, OR = 4.74) and previous to current week changes in load (>1250 AU, OR = 2.58) significantly related (p < 0.05) to a larger injury risk throughout the in-season phase. Players with 2–3 and 4–6 years of experience had a significantly lower injury risk compared to 7+ years players (OR = 0.22, OR = 0.28) when the previous to current week change in load was more than 1000 AU. No significant relationships were found between all derived load values and injury risk during the pre-season phase.
In-season, as the amount of 1–2 weekly load or previous to current week increment in load increases, so does the risk of injury in elite Australian footballers. To reduce the risk of injury, derived training and game load values of weekly loads and previous week-to-week load changes should be individually monitored in elite Australian footballers.
Trends in sport and active recreation injuries resulting in major trauma or death in adults in Victoria, Australia, 2001-2007
2012, Injury
Citation Excerpt :
In this current study collisions were the cause of 99% of Australian football major trauma injuries. Game speed, player size and environmental factors such as ground hardness have increased over the last few decades and have been linked to an increased severity of collision injuries at the elite level.17,18 However, whether similar changes have occurred at the community-level is unknown and the reasons for the increase in Australian football related major trauma in Victoria remains unclear.
The purpose of this study was to describe patterns and rates of sport and active recreation injuries that result in major trauma or death and to examine trends in these rates for all sport and active recreation activities and key sporting groups, for the period July 2001–June 2007, in Victoria, Australia.
All sport and active recreation related major trauma cases and deaths were extracted from the Victorian State Trauma Registry (VSTR) and the National Coroners Information System, for the period July 2001–June 2007. Participation data from the Exercise Recreation and Sports Survey (ERASS) was used to establish incidence rates for the group as a whole and for key sporting groups. Poisson regression analysis was used to examine trends in major trauma and death due to participation in sport and active recreation across the six year study period.
There were 1019 non-fatal major trauma cases and 218 deaths. The rate of major trauma or death from sport and active recreation injuries was 6.3 per 100,000 participants per year. There was an average annual increase of 10% per year in the major trauma rate (including deaths) across the study period, for the group as a whole (IRR 1.10, 95% CI, 1.06–1.14). There was no increase in the death rate (IRR = 0.94, 95% CI, 0.87–1.02; p = 0.12). Significant increases were also found for cycling (IRR 1.16, 95% CI, 1.09–1.24) off-road motor sports (IRR 1.10, 95% CI, 1.03–1.19), Australian football (IRR 1.21, 95% CI, 1.03–1.42) and swimming (IRR 1.16, 95% CI, 1.004–1.33).
The rate of major trauma inclusive of deaths, due to participation in sport and active recreation has increased over recent years, in Victoria, Australia. Much of this increase can be attributed to cycling, off-road motor sports, Australian football and to a lesser extent swimming, highlighting the need for co-ordinated injury prevention in these areas.
Relationship between interchange usage and risk of hamstring injuries in the Australian Football League
2012, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
Citation Excerpt :
Fatigue has previously been cited as a risk factor for injury in team sport.7,8 It is plausible that increased average player speed9,10 and increased player fatigue are both independent risk factors for hamstring strain. The level of both risk factors are likely to be influenced by the number of player interchanges.
To study risk factors for hamstring injury in the Australian Football League (AFL), in particular the effect of recent changes in match participation (increased use of the interchange bench) on hamstring injury.
Analysis of hamstring match injury statistics extracted from an injury database combined with match participation statistics extracted from a player statistics database.
56,320 player matches in the AFL over the period 2003–2010 were analyzed, in which 416 hamstring injuries occurred.
In a Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) analysis accounting for clustering of different teams, significant predictors of hamstring injuries were recent hamstring injury (RR 4.16, 95% CI 3.19–5.43), past history of ACL reconstruction (RR 1.69, 95% CI 1.09–2.60), past history of calf injury (RR 1.58, 95% CI 1.37–1.82), opposition team making 60 or more interchanges during the game (RR 1.38, 95% CI 1.12–1.68) and player having made 7 or more interchanges off the field in the last 3 weeks (protective RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.59–0.93).
These findings suggest that regular interchanges protect individual players against hamstring injuries, but increase the risk of hamstring injury for opposition players. These findings can be explained by a model in which both fatigue and average match running speed are risk factors for hamstring injury. A player who returns to the ground after a rest on the interchange bench may himself have some short-term protection against hamstring injury because of the reduced fatigue, but his rested state may contribute to increased average running speed for his direct opponent, increasing the risk of injury for players on the opposition team.
Video Analysis of Pectoralis Major Injuries in Professional Australian Football Players
2022, Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine
Quantifying congestion with player tracking data in Australian football
2022, PLoS ONE

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Sir William Refshauge Lecture 1998The evolution of Australian football

Australian Anthropometric Database

Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment and Territories

Testing in Australian rules football

Sports Coach

Height, health and history: Nutritional status in the United Kingdom, 1750–1980

An analysis of the movement patterns of players in an Australian rules league football match

The Australian Journal of Sports Medicine

Human tendons: Anatomy, physiology and pathology

Changes in body size of offensive players in the national football league

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise

On size and life

Findings from Asia, Australia, Europe and North America on secular change in mean height of children, youths and young adults

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Skill and conditioning in Australian rules football

The Australian Journal of Physical Education

Sir William Refshauge Lecture 1998
The evolution of Australian football