Injury in rugby league

Abstract

It was the purpose of this review to document the range, incidence, location and mechanism of injury occurring in the sport of rugby league. Rugby league is a collision sport played in Europe and the Pacific regions including Australia. The sport is well established and has competitions ranging from junior to elite professional. Due to the contact nature of the game, injury is relatively common. The most common injuries are musculotendinous in nature and afflict the lower limb more frequently than elsewhere. Despite the high incidence of minor (sprains/strains) to moderate musculoskeletal injury (fracture, ligament and joint injury) and minor head injuries such as lacerations, nasal fractures and concussions, rare more serious spinal cord and other injuries causing death have also been recorded. The literature on rugby league injury is small but growing and suffers from a lack of consistent definition of what an injury is, thereby causing variability in the nature and incidence/prevalence of injury. Information is lacking on the injury profiles of different age groups. Importantly, there has been little attempt to establish a coordinated injury surveillance program in rugby league in the junior or professional levels. The implementation of such programs would require a universal definition of injury and a focus on important events and competitions. The implementation could provide important information in the identification and prevention of risk factors for injury.