Strength and Power Characteristics in English Elite Rugby League Players

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present data on the strength and power characteristics of forwards and backs in a squad of elite English rugby league players and compare these findings to previously published literature from Australia. Participants were elite English rugby league players (n = 18; height 184.16 ± 5.76 cm; body mass 96.87 ± 10.92 kg, age 21.67 ± 4.10 years) who were all regular first team players for an English Superleague club. Testing included 5-, 10-, 20-m sprint times, agility, vertical jump, 40-kg squat jump, isometric squat, concentric and eccentric isokinetic knee flexion and extension. Independent t-tests were performed to compare results between forwards and backs, with paired samples t-tests used to compare bilateral differences from isokinetic assessments and agility tests. Forwards demonstrated significantly (p < 0.05) greater body mass (102.15 ± 7.5 kg), height (186.30 ± 5.47 cm), power during the 40-kg jump squat (2,106 ± 421 W), isometric force (3,122 ± 611 N) and peak torque during left concentric isokinetic knee extension (296.1 ± 54.2 N·m) compared to the backs (86.30 ± 8.97 kg; 179.87 ± 3.72 cm; 1,709 ± 286 W; 2,927 ± 607 N; 241.7 ± 35.2 N·m, respectively). However, no significant differences (p > 0.05) were noted between forwards and backs during right concentric isokinetic knee extension (274.8 ± 37.7 and 246.8 ± 25.8 N·m), concentric isokinetic knee flexion for both left (158.8 ± 28.6 and 141.0 ± 22. 7 N·m) and right legs (155.3 ± 22.9 and 128.0 ± 23.9 N·m), eccentric isokinetic knee flexion and extension, hamstring quadriceps ratios, or vertical jump (37.25 ± 4.35 and 40.33 ± 6.38 cm). In comparison, relative measures demonstrated that backs performed significantly better compared to the forwards during the 40-kg jump squat (20.71 ± 5.15 and 19.91 ± 3.91 W·kg⁻¹) and the isometric squat (34.32 ± 7.9 and 30.65 ± 5.34 N·kg⁻¹). Bilateral comparisons revealed no significant differences (p > 0.05) between left and right leg performances in the agility test (3.26 ± 0.18 and 3.24 ± 0.18 seconds), or between left (0.7 ± 0.10) and right (0.71 ± 0.17) leg eccentric hamstring concentric quadriceps ratios. The results demonstrate that absolute strength and power measures are generally higher in forwards compared to in backs; however, when body mass is taken into account and relative measures compared, the backs outperform the forwards.

Match Demands of Senior and Junior Players During International Rugby League

“…Another major finding of this study was there were no significant differences in the running demands of senior and junior international matches, independent of position. A difference between senior and junior levels was hypothesized as it was expected that senior players may obtain higher absolute values in some speed variables due to increased maturation, standard of play, and augmented physical capacity (4,9,26). However, locomotor data shows little difference between age group when the information is compared relative to time on the pitch, which corresponds with the aforementioned research by Gabbett (12).…”

Changes in Sprint, Change of Direction, and Jump Performance during a Competitive Season in Male Lacrosse Players

“…The mirror image of this is performed for the right leg. Previous research has demonstrated a high level of reliability (r = 0.98, p<0.001) between trails for the COD drill for both left and right legs, respectively [8].…”

“…COD tests for each side were interspersed with a 1-minute rest period. As with the sprint test, COD tests were performed on the indoor track, with all athletes beginning with their front foot 0.5 m behind the start line and were instructed to perform all sprints with a maximal effort [8]. For the left leg the athlete sprints forwards to a marker on the floor, touching this with their left foot, where they back pedal 2.5 m at a 135 angle, to another marker, touching this with their right foot, and then sprint forwards a further 5 meters through the timing gates ( Figure 1).…”

“…football and basketball players) [5,6]. To the author's knowledge, these are the only two studies on male lacrosse players, describing the physiological needs of lacrosse, and detailing performance variables for male club players [4,6].Several studies have documented the physiological and anthropometric characteristics of professional athletes [8][9][10][11] Although these studies have described the physical characteristics of professional athletes and provided insight into the physiological demands of several sports such as soccer [9], lacrosse [7,12] Extensive research has examined the magnitude of change in performance expected over short periods of time in highly trained athletes [15][16][17] and more recently over extended periods of time [18][19][20][21][22][23]. Appleby et al…”

“…Several studies have documented the physiological and anthropometric characteristics of professional athletes [8][9][10][11] Although these studies have described the physical characteristics of professional athletes and provided insight into the physiological demands of several sports such as soccer [9], lacrosse [7,12], rugby league [8], and basketball [13] all of these studies have been limited to a single measurement performed at the beginning, middle, or end of the competitive season. Because of the competitive demands and the limited time available for fitness development during the playing season, it is possible that athletes could experience residual fatigue, with the fitness of players declining throughout a season [14].…”