- Title
- Analysis of concussion in the Queensland rugby league
- Creator
- Lang, Martin A.
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2025
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Concussion is the most common form of traumatic brain injury worldwide and is prevalent in Australia’s popular contact sports. The detection, management and appropriate recovery time for a sport-related concussion is one of the most complex topics facing sporting governing bodies throughout the world, with evidence suggesting inadequate stand-down periods increase the risk of the cumulative effects of concussion. An accurate game day medical evaluation is critical, with the utilisation of tools such as the SCAT5 (Sports Concussion Assessment Tool, 5th Edition) to perform Head Injury Assessments (HIA) and sideline video analysis of suspected concussions events being widely adopted for an accurate detection, diagnosis, and management of concussion. The aim of this program of research was to examine the game events most likely to result in a concussion, the tackle, being the game event with the greatest propensity for a head injury event. For the first two studies, the concussion rates in youth rugby league (Study 1 under 18 and under 20 years) and sub-elite adult (QLD Cup) male rugby league players, along with the number of days until the concussed player was returned to match play were examined. The focus was on the players that were removed from the game for an HIA, with the utilisation of a 46-variable coding matrix identifying the body positions for both the tackler and ball carrier at the point of contact. Of the 86 HIAs and 30 medically diagnosed concussions coded from the two youth age groups, both groups had a greater incidence for both HIAs and concussions than adult rugby league players at the elite and sub-elite levels, whilst return to play timelines were more conservative than those seen at the sub-elite/elite levels. The second study featured sub-elite (Queensland Cup) rugby league players, with 132 players removed for HIAs. There were 36 players medically diagnosed with concussions, equating to an incidence rate of 6.11 concussions per 1,000 player match hours, with one concussion every 4.7 matches. Similar to the National Rugby League (NRL), the tackler sustained more concussions than the ball carrier. For the third study in sub-elite adult male rugby league players, 131 tackles resulting in HIAs and 2,088 tackles that did not result in a head injury event were identified and coded from one season of the Queensland Cup Rugby League. The propensity for tacklers to sustain a head injury equated to a 2.5-fold higher risk than that of the ball carrier, with a combination of higher head contact/proximity and upright body position significantly increasing an HIA/concussion risk. To summarise, tackle characteristics leading to head injury events in the sub-elite (youth) level of rugby league were similar to the findings in elite level rugby league [1] and rugby union [2]. The first study involving youth level rugby league demonstrated that whilst the incidence of HIAs and medically diagnosed concussions was higher in the under 20 age group compared to the under 18 group, both groups had lower incidence rates than those seen at the elite, NRL level. The second study also demonstrated the concussion incidence rate at the sub-elite level to be slightly lower than those seen at the elite level. This incremental increase in concussion rate as the level of play increases may be due to the athlete’s enhanced physiological characteristics seen at the elite level due to their age and respective training programs, resulting in increased kinematics. The third study established a definitive association between athletic performance on the SCAT5 and the subsequent return-to-play decision, replicating results seen in elite level rugby league [1]. The results of this program of research highlight the necessity of displaying a high level of vigilance with respect to the athlete’s clinical history, with long-term cognitive impairment and behavioural changes likely as a result of repetitive head injury exposure.
- Subject
- rugby league; concussion; Queensland rugby league; Queensland Cup
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1516426
- Identifier
- uon:56976
- Rights
- Copyright 2025 Martin A. Lang
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 838 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 112 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |