Introduction: Players in all football codes may experience fatigue during a match, however it is unclear whether between-code differences exist in any performance decrements. Our aim was to investigate the reductions in physical performance in footballers during soccer, Australian football and rugby league matches, played at the highest level of competition in Australia, using the same analysis technique and movement definitions. Methods: Movement data were collected via 5-Hz global positioning systems from 28 elite Australian football, 36 rugby league and 30 soccer players competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), National Rugby League (NRL) and Australian A-League. Distance covered in the first and second halves were reported for the movement categories; low-intensity activity (LIA; 0.1.5.4 m/s) and high-velocity running (HiVR; .5.5.10 m/s) as well as the number of maximal accelerations (>2.78 m/s^2). All data were expressed relative to playing time. Main effects were tested for code and half using a two-way mixed method ANOVA. Tukey post hoc testing was used to determine specific between-code differences and paired samples t-tests for within code-differences. Results: Australian footballers covered a greater HiVR distance than NRL and soccer players in the first half (P<0.001, 14.5 +- 4.7 vs. 5.2 +- 3.1 vs. 5.6 +- 2.8 m/min respectively). While NRL and AFL players experienced a 12 and 13% decrement in HiVR distance (P<0.001) during the second half, HiVR distance was maintained by soccer players (P=0.896). The LIA distance performed by soccer and AFL players was significantly reduced (P<0.001) in the second half by 6% and 5% respectively, but no first half to second half decrements in LIA were observed in NRL players (P=0.455). All codes performed fewer accelerations (P<0.05) in the second half (-14%; AFL, -18% NRL and -8% soccer) compared to the first half. Discussion: Australian footballers experienced decrements in all running activities in the second half despite being allowed unlimited player rotations. This is likely due to the large HiVR distances covered per minute. Similarly, the reduction in HiVR distance in NRL may be due to the high number of accelerations per minute or other physically demanding tasks such as collisions and rapid changes in direction. In soccer, players must physically prepare with the expectation of playing a full match, thus players may adopt a pacing strategy to conserve energy by reducing LIA in order to maintain HiVR.
© Copyright 2012 17th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Bruges, 4. -7. July 2012. Veröffentlicht von Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.