Movement patterns of players in the Australian Women's Rugby League team during international competition.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the movement patterns of the Australian Women's Rugby League team during international competition. DESIGN: Retrospective observational study. METHODS: Global Positioning Systems technology recorded the movements of players from the Australian Women's Rugby League team (n=31) during seven international rugby league matches. A subgroup of players (n=18) that played at least 80min in a match were categorized into three positional groups: forwards (n=7), backs (n=7) and halves (n=4), and analysed for external outputs that were classified into multiple speed zones. Mean speed (mmin-1) and mean speed when travelling >12kmh-1 (MS12; mmin-1) were calculated for each 10% interval of playing time of both groups to assess changes in match intensity. RESULTS: Total distance travelled was greater in the first half (3332.9m compared to 3249.0m), along with distances travelled at speeds >15kmh-1 (p<0.05), whereas players travelled further at speeds <6kmh-1 in the second half (p=0.005). Backs travelled further at speeds <6kmh-1 (p=0.002) and >15kmh-1 (p=0.007) compared to forwards. Mean speed significantly reduced across the first and second halves (p<0.05), while MS12 reduced by ∼40% in the first half of the match (i.e. first ∼5min compared to the last ∼5min). CONCLUSION: These results provide coaches with sport-specific activity profiles of female rugby league players that can be used to individualise training prescription. Given that match-intensity deteriorated across the first and second halves, programs may be targeted at improving endurance and supramaximal exercise tolerance in order for female players to withstand high match-demands of international competition.