NRL players have bones like iron: study

2 Dec 2010, 4:44 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Australia's rugby league players have bones "like iron" but they take a real hammering over the course of an NRL season, a study has found.

Australia's rugby league players have bones "like iron" but they take a real hammering over the course of an NRL season, a study has found.

Queensland-based researchers monitored the muscle mass and bone density of Gold Coast Titans players from pre-season, through the 2009 NRL season, and into the pre-season for 2010.

It showed how their bodies were uniquely adapted to the rigours of their sport, as they had around 30 per cent higher bone density than an Australian male who was not an elite rugby league player.

"I was really surprised, these men are just warriors," said Belinda Beck, an associate professor from the new Musculoskeletal Research Program at the Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University.

"They are big, tough, strong men and they take such a punishing schedule through the season.

"If you look at a Caucasian player versus a Tongan player there is a lot of difference in their bone mass too.

"A lot of the islanders have bones like iron ... those guys are almost indestructible."

The monitoring, which took in 44 senior and under 20s players, showed how they started the pre-season in peak physical form but soon the exertion of the match day was seen to take a toll.

The players' muscle mass decreased gradually through the 2009 season and there was a noticeable drop in their bone density in the latter half of the season.

This could be a factor in bone-related injuries seen to hit NRL players late in the season, and the shift in focus to skills rather than weight training during the season could exacerbate this.

"They need to maximise muscle mass at the start of the season as much as they can - they should be on weights and building blocks - and then try to maintain that through the season to a greater extent than they are," Dr Beck said.

"The problem is the football coach may say the players can't tolerate that through the season ... so it is a challenging problem."

The research also contains a lesson for NRL fans who enjoy throwing a ball around in the park on the weekend.

You are likely to not have the bones needed to deliver, or take, a hit like you have seen countless times on TV.

"They should be considering whether they have adequate medical coverage," Dr Beck said.

"And particularly for kids, if you want to go that way, you have to start relatively early and build-up gradually."

The monitoring also showed during the pre-season of 2010, the Titans players had restored the muscle mass and bone density lost in the later half of 2009 plus "a little more".

Honours student Erin Georgeson presented the research findings at the Gold Coast Health and Medical Research Conference 2010 this week.

Griffith University's new Musculoskeletal Research Program brings together 25 researchers who are looking at ways to prevent and manage musculoskeletal problems, such as back pain, arthritis and osteoporosis, which cost the economy $4.6 billion per year.

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