Galloping through the field of sports science

Anyone who has witnessed a full-throttle collision between two rampaging rugby league players knows that it’s a sight to behold. In what is surely one of the most demanding team sports on the planet, players require a balance of strength, speed and agility, on top of the technical skills that define the game. 

In recent years, NRL clubs have increasingly turned to sports science to prime their athletes and sharpen their competitive edge.

One such club is the Brisbane Broncos, which is among the most successful NRL teams in the modern era. In early 2023, the Broncos approached ACU’s Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre, hoping to tap into the expertise of the centre’s researchers to improve the club’s training practices.

As a result, senior SPRINT Associate Professors Rich Johnston and Grant Duthie were awarded a lucrative grant to support an industry-embedded PhD project. The chosen candidate would delve deep into the science of rugby league performance, exploring how to enhance the most important physical characteristics of players, and allowing the Broncos to view their training regime through a scientific lens.

Enter Tom Fary, a young Victorian with a master’s degree and several years of industry experience under his belt. In late 2023, Tom joined ACU and the Broncos, and has since been embedded full-time at the club’s Queensland headquarters.

“It’s a huge opportunity,” says Tom, who moved from Geelong to Brisbane to begin his PhD. 

“That blend of real-life industry experience and in-depth research experience is massively beneficial, because you get to apply your skills and see first-hand how the theory translates into practice.”

A deeper understanding

Over the course of three NRL seasons, Tom will explore how to better monitor player performance responses to different forms of training and physical activity.

Using data collected from player tracking technology, which has in recent years become ubiquitous in elite sport, he will examine the impact that the Broncos’ training and playing schedule has on changes in body composition, muscular strength and power, and aerobic fitness.

“I’ll compare data over different phases of the season and use that information to evaluate the impact on player wellbeing, and I’ll also calculate markers of fatigue in players during specific training stimuli like running.”

Tom will be supervised by SPRINT researchers along with Brisbane’s strength and conditioning coach, Dr Michael Speranza, and sport scientist, Dr Jake Jennings.

“I’m incredibly lucky to be in the position to bounce ideas off people with loads of practical experience and knowledge in sports science and research,” he says.

“That’s why doing an industry-embedded PhD is so ideal – you’re getting the best of both worlds.”

A learning process

As a longtime AFL fan and former player, the move to a rugby league club was a major challenge for the young researcher.

“That part of it has been really fun,” says Tom, who worked as an intern for the Geelong Cats through his master’s degree. 

“Nowadays I probably watch more league than I do AFL, just learning the intricate details of the game. There are obviously some major differences between the two codes, but there are also similarities.”

One of the key differences is the physical toll of the respective games. While AFL players need the endurance to run further than their rugby league counterparts, with some covering more than 15km in a game, NRL players need to withstand the impact of heavier collisions. This means they often have vastly different physical profiles.

“Having had a bit of time in both the AFL and the NRL, it’s been really interesting to observe the differences in the make-up of the players,” says Tom, who also spent two years developing young athletes at the Barwon Sports Academy. 

“An AFL centre half forward and an NRL prop are going to be completely different in terms of physical structure because the demands of the games are different. One needs speed and stamina because they tend to cover so much ground, and the other needs to make those short, sharp efforts and be strong enough to handle those intense physical contacts.”

Eyes on the future

As Tom progresses through his PhD, his focus will remain two-fold: he aims to use his research to enhance the Broncos’ performance, while also contributing to the broader field of sports science.  

“The end goal is to add to the body of knowledge and help to form a deeper understanding of the impact that training and match-play has on NRL athletes,” he says.

“Hopefully by the end of it I’ve developed a well-rounded skillset and opened up opportunities that allow me to continue working in sport, helping sportspeople to optimise their performance and reach their maximum potential.”

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