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Late pre-season training (especially on-field match specific training) is associated with better performance in the early season.

Background Australian Football is a fast paced, intermittent sport, played by both male and female populations. The aim of this systematic review was to compare male and female Australian Football players, competing at elite and sub-elite levels, for running performance during Australian Football matches based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Methods Medline, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science searches, using search terms inclusive of Australian Football, movement demands and microsensor technology, returned 2535 potential manuscripts, of which 33 were included in the final analyses. Results Results indicated that male athletes performed approximately twice the total running distances of their female counterparts, which was likely due to the differences in quarter length (male elite = 20 min, female elite = 15 min (plus time-on). When expressed relative to playing time, the differences between males and females somewhat diminished. However, high-speed running distances covered at velocities > 14.4 km·h−1 (> 4 m·s−1) were substantially greater (≥ 50%) for male than female players. Male and female players recorded similar running intensities during peak periods of play of shorter duration (e.g., around 1 min), but when the analysis window was lengthened, females showed a greater decrement in running performance. Conclusion These results suggest that male players should be exposed to greater training volumes, whereas training intensities should be reasonably comparable across male and female athletes.

Late pre-season training (especially on-field match specific training) is associated with better performance in the early season.

Background Physical demands and injury rates differ between elite female and male Australian Football (AF) players. To improve understanding of contributing physical factors to these differences, the purpose of this study was to investigate lower-body morphology and whole-body composition of elite footballers competing in the Australian Football League (AFL) and Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW). Methods Lower-body morphology and whole-body composition of 23 AFL players and 23 AFLW players were assessed using peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography and Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry at the beginning of pre-season. Differences between cohorts, with sub-analyses of kicking vs. support limbs, and experienced vs. inexperienced player status were assessed using two-sample independent t-tests. Magnitude of differences were assessed using Cohen’s d effect sizes. Results AFL players had greater absolute (p < 0.001; ES = 3.28) and relative (p < 0.001; ES = 2.29) whole body lean soft-tissue mass, with less absolute (p = 0.004; ES = 0.91) and relative (p < 0.001; ES = 2.29) fat mass than AFLW players. For AFLW players, no significant differences existed between kicking and support limbs with few differences observed between experienced and inexperienced players. Conclusions Greater emphasis on physical development in AFLW players may be required to enable increases in muscle mass and skeletal robustness, to ensure they can tolerate the loads of elite competition.