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LBU's groundbreaking research influences tackle law changes to protect rugby league players from head injuries
The RFL and Leeds Beckett University’s joint TaCKLE research project has used state-of-the-art technology to inform its rule changes on legal tackle heights for junior, age-grade and community rugby league in 2024.
Professor Jones and the team of experts from CARR have utilised instrumented mouthguards containing sensors to reveal how players in different positions are exposed to different collisions, and applied computer vision techniques to identify head-to-head collisions and how different tackles cause head injuries.
The team has calculated the number of collisions and head acceleration events players experience in-game, which has informed recommended match limits for players, depending on their age and the position they play. CARR has also conducted surveys with players and coaches across the game to better understand perceptions of concussion.
To help understand the impact of collisions in the sport, CARR has undertaken the following activities:
- An intervention with Super League Academies to evaluate new laws to reduce head contact and concussion.
- An intervention with Women’s Super League coaches to identify ways to reduce head-to-head collisions during tackles and inform new tackle techniques.
- Identified new tackle height and head contact regulations to reduce contact to the head.
- Conducted focus groups with stakeholders of the sport to review our research and recommended changes for the sport.
After assessing their findings, CARR has helped guide the RFL’s updated policy on head high tackles, with tackles above the armpit now deemed illegal from 2024 in the junior, age-grade and community ranks of the sport.
This change will be one of 44 law changes introduced into those sections of the sport in 2024 and is one of three proposals for the RFL from CARR.
A limit of the number of matches professional players can play per season will be introduced, between 15-30, which will be influenced by their age and playing position. There will also be a limit on the amount of contact players can participate in during training sessions.
The RFL, based on CARR’s recommendations, have also mandated instrumented mouthguards for the 2024 men’s and women’s Super League seasons, to ensure player head impacts and accelerations are monitored throughout the year.