Tackle Risk Factors for Head Injury Assessments (HIAs) in Sub-Elite Rugby League and Recommendations for Prevention: Head Contacts from Upright Tackles Increase the HIA Risk to Both Ball Carrier and Tackler

Martin A Lang; Ross Tucker; Suzi Edwards; Grant L Iverson; Andrew J Gardner

doi:10.1186/s40798-024-00696-7

Tackle Risk Factors for Head Injury Assessments (HIAs) in Sub-Elite Rugby League and Recommendations for Prevention: Head Contacts from Upright Tackles Increase the HIA Risk to Both Ball Carrier and Tackler

Sports Med Open. 2024 Apr 17;10(1):43. doi: 10.1186/s40798-024-00696-7.

Authors

Martin A Lang¹, Ross Tucker², Suzi Edwards³, Grant L Iverson^{4

5

6}, Andrew J Gardner⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.
² Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Department of Sport Science, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
³ Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
⁴ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Mass General for Children Sports Concussion Program, Boston, MA, USA.
⁶ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Schoen Adams Research Institute at Spaulding Rehabilitation, Charlestown, MA, USA.
⁷ Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia. Andrew.Gardner@sydney.edu.au.

Abstract

Background: The rugby league tackle has been identified as the game event with the greatest propensity for a clinically diagnosed concussion. This study aims to replicate the work conducted in professional rugby league and rugby union by examining Head Injury Assessment (HIA) events to determine the associated tackle characteristics that increase concussion risk in sub-elite rugby league players. This comparison between competition levels is important due to the less developed physiological and tackle proficiency characteristics of sub-elite rugby league players and the fewer resources available for an on-field diagnosis, compared to the elite level of the sport.

Results: Tackles resulting in Head Injury Assessments (HIAs, n = 131) and 2,088 tackles that did not result in a head injury were identified and coded from one season of the 2019 Queensland Cup. The body position of both ball carrier and tackler, tackle height, and body contact areas were evaluated. The propensity for tacklers to undergo a head injury assessment was 1.49 HIAs per 1,000 tackles, equating to a 2.5-fold higher risk than that of the ball carrier (0.59 HIAs per 1,000 tackles). The risk for an HIA was 2.75-fold greater when the tackler was upright (2.89 HIAs per 1,000 tackles) compared to a bent-at-the-waist tackler (1.05 HIAs per 1,000 tackles). The greatest risk for the tackler and ball carrier sustaining an HIA occurred when the tackle height was high, with head-to-head contact having the greatest propensity for an HIA (44.37 HIAs per 1,000 tackles). HIA risk was also greater for both players when the ball carrier did not employ an evasion strategy (3.73 HIAs per 1,000 tackles).

Conclusions: The study replicates results from research in elite rugby league and rugby union. A combination of higher head contact/proximity and upright body position significantly increase an HIA risk. Tackler head position and ball carrier evasion behaviours also affect risk, suggesting that injury prevention strategies designed to reduce tackle height and improve tackle technique by focusing on head position, body position, and in a novel finding, ball carrier evasion, may reduce head injury risk in sub-elite rugby league players.

Keywords: Head impact events; Head injury assessment; Head injury prevention; Mild traumatic brain injury; Tackle events.