Australian Rules Football is seeing consistent growth in player numbers and a decrease in injuries. With over 528,000 registered players in 2024, there has been a growth of 6% since 2016.
Australian Rules Football is a high contact sport, with a total of 4,317 injuries that required hospitalisation in 2022, but the rate of injuries hasn’t stopped club registration numbers increasing and the league is improving safety measures to further protect their players.
With the addition of qualified sports trainers being employed by clubs, many players are reducing the risk of injuries by getting cared for pre-game on existing injuries or warming up adequately to reduce further risk.
Kiana Williams, a qualified sports trainer for the Wollongong Bulldogs, said she considers safety as one of the top priorities for the club.
“They all get together and stretch and warm up before the game and they all stretch after the game to cool-down,” Ms Williams said.
“Most of it is pre-game strapping for the players.”
There has been a large drop in injuries recorded by The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in the sport between 2016-2022.
The largest age group of players are aged 15-24 and in 2017 there was a total of 2,384 injuries recorded that required hospitalisation compared to 2022 when only 2,055 players had injuries that required a hospital visit.
“I think it’s a very community based sport and a lot of young people are enjoying playing it as well because there’s lots of numbers that need to be filled on the team so lots of people get game time,” Ms Williams said.
Australian Rules Football is not only growing in numbers, it’s growing safer for the players.
