INJURY IN SUMMER RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL - THE EXPERIENCES OF ONE CLUB

Objective - To investigate whether the movement of the playing season from winter to summer would alter the risk of injury to players taking part in first team European professional rugby league. Methods - The study design was a historical cohort design comparing winter and summe r seasons in first team European rugby league, which recorded injuries received by players during match play. Each injury was classified acc ording to site, type, player position, activity at the time of injury, and time off as a result of injury. Results - The risk of injury when playing summer rugby league was higher than when playing winter rugby league (relative risk = 1.67 (95% confidence interval 1.18 to 2.17)). Both forwards (1.08 (0.28 to 1.88)) and backs (2.36 (2.03 to 2.69)) e xperienced an increased risk of injury. Conclusions - Summer rugby may have resulted in a shift of injury risk factors as exhibited by a cha nge in injury patterns. This may be due to playing conditions, but the re were also some law changes. Changes in playing style, team tactics, player equipment, fitness preparation, and the reduced preseason brea k may also have had confounding effects on injury risk.