Rugby league is a challenging sport for me to place. As a West Australian, my exposure to the code has been limited. Fortunately, we have rugby league expert and coach extraordinaire, Rohan Smith, to lend a helping hand.
Amongst our five sports, the attribute that sticks out most for rugby league is power. Like cricket, a lot of rugby league’s action is pure explosiveness: sprinting into tackles, grappling, breaking tackles, executing tackles, accelerating after breaking the line.
There is far less running in rugby league than there is in Australian rules football, but the power comparison is not really a comparison.
It shows as early as the recruitment stage for young players.
“Rugby league is such a game of physical impact attrition,” Rohan says.
“The first thing most coaches look for are the physical capacity for repeat bouts of wrestle, collision and agility – an appropriate size and weight for their position. Then skill and game sense will then separate or elevate the elite from the fringe players.”
The average listed NRL player in 2017 weighs 99 kilograms, around 14 kilograms heavier than an Australian rules player but a few kilograms lighter than the average union professional.
Cricketers and footballers don’t come close to triple figures. According to NRL club websites, 14 players (2.5 per cent) weigh in at over 120 kilograms, including two monsters – Sam Kasiano and Mose Masoe – tipping the scales at 130 big ones. In Super Rugby, that number rises to 45 (9.1 per cent of listed players).
It’s clear there is a perception that rugby league player body types are converging on a standardised archetype. Rohan agrees.
(AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
“The body shapes have become similar. Yardage carriers – wingers, centres, backrowers, front rowers – mostly sit between 96-110kg, with the odd exception,” Rohan said.
“Even fullbacks, halves and hookers can be big, but usually in the 86-92kg range. So of the 17 players that play, 12-13 of them are big!”
That doesn’t mean smaller players can’t thrive. Indeed, last year’s joint Dally M medallists were 191cm, 113-kilogram Jason Taumalolo and 178cm, 89-kilogram Cooper Cronk. The pair play different positions – second row and halfback respectively – but still performed at a level that warranted the status of best player in the game.
In a similar vein, Johnathan Thurston is one of the most influential athletes in the NRL; he’s just 179cm tall and weighs 87 kilograms.
The biggest reason for the difference in mass between league players (and union players) and Australian rules players is the level of endurance required.
Rohan provided me with some de-identified GPS data from a recent coaching appointment. The data showed players travelled an average of 5.9 kilometres per game, or 7.9 kilometres per 80 minutes. Of this, less than ten per cent, or around 500 metres, was classed as ‘high intensity running’.
Rugby league and Australian rules are chalk and cheese. League requires an ability to accelerate and make the most of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, where Australian rules players need to run all day.
But Rohan says that doesn’t mean endurance isn’t important.
“Endurance keeps you in games, but having top-end speed wins big games. There are plenty of examples of players with outstanding speed for their position acting as the most influential players on the ground: Jarryd Hayne, Greg Inglis, Billy Slater, Sonny Bill Williams, Scott Te’o, Sam Burgess, and Michael Jennings.
“Outside of playmakers, in most cases, speed plus endurance equals a big money player!”
A lot of what we’ve talked about here is at the raw end of athletic performance: acceleration, speed and strength. There’s subtlety to rugby league, too.
“Acceleration is the key to rugby league. Players can be fast, but they will rarely hit their max speed,” said Rohan.
“But the ability to accelerate, decelerate and change direction quickly are significant factors in elite performance.”
(AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Rugby league requires a unique kind of agility. It’s a combination of strength-based power and an ability to move laterally and misdirect an opponent. Making an opponent miss a tackle is a critical controllable action that the fledging statistics community within the NRL seems to hold near and dear.
It makes sense; league is ultimately a highly structured game with regulated interactions that centre on tackles. Making an opponent miss a tackle, and breaking the line as a result, can gain crucial yardage or lead directly to a score.
Key Information
Ryan and Rohan are making these judgments based on the highest level of domestic competition in each of the sports – except for cricket, where the Australian Test team seems like the more appropriate comparator.
In this series, each sport will be ranked on key categories. We’ll reveal the final scores and the top sport at the end of the series.
Endurance: the length of time an athlete is required to perform at their peak, in a game and over the course of a season.
Power: how explosive an athlete needs to be, in both speed and strength terms, over and above the “resting” state of play.
Agility: a measure of an athlete’s required evasiveness, ability to change direction and be aware of those around them.
Speed: how fast is a player required to move around the field, both in sprints and general play.
Stay tuned for the next instalment when we’ll discuss rugby union.
The full series
» Part One: AFL
» Part Two: Cricket
» Part Three: Rugby league
» Part Four: Rugby union
» Part Five: Football
» Part Six: Final Results
This series is sponsored by by POWERADE, fuelling rivalry through the POWERADE POWERSCORE. The Powerade Powerscore, developed in conjunction with the New South Wales Institute of Sport, allows you to compare yourself to mates and elite athletes.
Pickett
Guest
Love your name mate.
Pickett
Guest
Of course its horses for courses. But just generally, looking at at that Gillette Slater thing and the NRL boys thumping all the union, soccer and rowers in that boxing contest in NZ, and seeing that show off Hayne do alright in NFL, my totally biased opinion is Leaguies are the best bar none.
J Edgar
Guest
My personal opinion is that League produces the superior but that is because I value the brutal contact over the endurance/openness of AFL. If you put the leaguies in a 10km time trial the AFL boys would touch them up. Having seen them all up close and in different situations. A great athlete is a great athlete.. Regardless of code ... Gary Ablett would have been a great league player if he picked up a Steedan and Billy Slater would have excelled at AFL if he picked up a Sherrin.
KingKongBundy
Guest
Well the answer is easy if you play a bit of league then boxing you will be the greatest athlete you just ask Anthony the man Mundine on that. He da man narrrr meeeen
Brainstrust
Guest
Slater won the first 2 , by being a great all rounder not the best athletically, good at a lot of different sports, fitness good, speed good, seems to have played every sport under the sun, was very smart as well. Ryan Gidley he might be fitter than Slater but pretty ordinary otherwiise, Quad Cooper was much less fit but faster and better at other sports and took it out that season. Wendell Sailor was the least fit of all the athletes, he was only good at pushing the sled pretty useless at other stuff, though would have won the bench press if it had been done at a standard weight, but they set the weight according to the body weight of the person. You can;t say endurance and fitness is an essential part of being an outside back in rugby league if you look at Sailor.
Edward Kelly
Roar Guru
Is this applied "Sports Science"? 4 easily measured but arbitrary data points on a multitude of sports is then used to define the greatest athletes. Simplistic and not scientific to say the least.
Jacko
Guest
But 4 quarters means 3 rests so does that negate some of the endurance side? Soccer run far more Ks in a game with midfielders sometimes doing 15k in 90 mins. league has more of a power type need as does union and Union also has more aerobics to it so how does one compare genuinely. Cricket for a Batsman vs a fast bowler is also a massive difference as is a forward v a back in league and union and also Soccer
Jacko
Guest
The type of athelete that throws a shotput or runs a marithon? I think this series is proving that all sports are strong in some areas and weak in others....Running 6k in a game is pathetic compared to Soccer and AFL yet you say that are the best FOR SURE...How do you think Sam Kasiano would go in AFL or SOCCER?Certainly no where near as good as someone like Slater or Folau. He would go very badly....Horses for courses...
Ray
Guest
A little difficult to argue AFL superior endurance when they play 4 quarters.
Rupert
Guest
I saw a competition at Bruce Stadium many years ago which pitched footballers from the 4 codes against each other in a pentathlon of throwing, running etc. Michael O'Connor was one notable who competed. Tony Brennan, representing Soccer, won the competition including the sprint race, in a canter.
Ray
Guest
Not to mention the relentless defensive structure of going up, then going backwards 10 metres after every tackle, perhaps for 3 or 4 sets. It's not really noticeable on TV, but you really appreciate the effort if standing on the fence behind them when a team is defending their goal line.
razamatazbaz01
Guest
You know the contest is over when even doctors are quoted as sayin "what these players put their body through, the human body wasn't ment to do" 2014 S.O.O. series.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Didn't he win it three years straight against different opponents, year on year. I think Kurt Gidley might have won one too. One thing under rated about the endurance required to play league is that you're required to keep running, with that running punctuated by brutal collisions. It's one thing to run all day. It's another to run get smashed, drag yourself off the ground and run again. Then repeat 50 or 60 times.
Perry Bridge
Guest
#Agent11 re the assertions you're making - you're generalising somewhat. There ARE top AFL players with that explosiveness that they can break away from stop ball situations (however, the defensive structures are designed to stop them doing just that). The risk of course is getting tackled whilst in possession and having used up the 'prior opportunity' defence. The drop kick once was a featured of Aust football but not any more - however - you might want to note the number of goals kicked by plays on or about the 50metre arc that sail through the goal posts and land 10-15 metres back. Not all players are great long kicks - and again, defensive structures will try to NOT let the ball in the hands of the better kicks. It's not like soccer or rugby where a designated kicker can be brought into place (penalties/conversions). The other aspect around kicking distances is the fatigue levels - many players will lose a few metres on their kicks as the game wears on. So - yes - you'll see guys struggling to kick great distances. The game is very much about testing skills/decision making under duress and subject to fatigue.
E-Meter
Guest
Ohhhhh don't be like that
Jeff Morris
Guest
NFL players most athletic? The play goes on for 10 seconds, then they stand around for 30 seconds, do it again 3 more times, then go sit on the bench for 5 minutes and rest.
Bruce Hartley
Guest
The greatest change with Rugby League was the introduction of the 10 metre rule. It changed the game to a contest of one out running and collision. Bring the game back to 5 metres and reduce the interchange and you might see players with smaller body shapes become more prominent.
Yoda
Guest
What a load of bull;:-/,league this,league that,I feel sick?
Pickett
Guest
Rugby League players are the greatest athletes for sure.
Justin Kearney
Guest
For once i agree with you pezza. League and afl require very different forms of futness. Viva la difference!