Injury prevention in women’s rugby league starts with trust and safe tackle techniques

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A community rugby league coach is teaching women and girls how to tackle safely in the gritty sport. There is a grassroots effort to hone in on technique, with women at greater risk of injury compared to men.

Transcript

00:00These rugby league players are putting in the hard yards.

00:07Most of them didn't have these opportunities growing up.

00:10Because I have an older brother I sort of always went to his games and I guess for females

00:15like contact sport didn't come in until we were older.

00:19And many have come from other codes.

00:21Doing sevens and playing with the boys 15 a side and then as you get older you're not

00:26allowed to participate with boys anymore.

00:28Bit nervous with the contact and not used to it, especially coming from cricket.

00:31Poor tackling technique is a growing problem.

00:34Coach Rob Bai and his community players in Sydney's West are confronting it head on.

00:40A lot of boys grow up with the ball in hand, not every single girl has that opportunity.

00:45He's taught me to put my body in front and get in the line of defence.

00:52In men's NRL, the defender is more likely to suffer a head impact event in a tackle.

00:58Limited research on women's rugby league shows both tacklers and ball carriers have an equal

01:03chance of a hit to the head about once every 30 minutes of play in the NRLW.

01:09Coaching females, very much the technical aspect, very much their feet, understanding

01:15where to put their head, where to put their shoulder, how to align themselves to generate

01:19more force and power.

01:21Developing that solid technique for a big hit starts at training, but it's also about

01:26creating the right team environment.

01:28Hold, hold, up.

01:30With the males they tend to just run at a brick wall if you tell them, but with the

01:33females it's very different whereas if you explain the why with trust and good connections

01:38then they're going to do whatever skills you set.

01:42Skills that elite players need to be faster, stronger and safer.

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