Reason for Injuries

Quote: Trawlerman "Sorry it’s a bit long but I don’t think we are responding as a club to the injuries we seem to have had for three years. IMO injuries can be due to five main reasons.

1 Luck – there is no doubt that luck plays a part in injuries but to have similar issues for three years in a row would suggest that there is more to it that just bad luck.

2 Age – whilst I don’t have any statistics to prove this I believe it is fairly widely agreed that as a sportsman passes the age of 30 injuries do seem to be more common and the recovery period longer.

3 Technique – In a contact sport such as Rugby League the way you go into contact has to have some effect on the hits to the body. For example if you are upright with an open chest you will eventually take a hit to the rib cage that causes injury.

4. Preparation and warm up – Warm up and stretching before a game is vital as is maintaining that flexibility created in the warm up whilst on the bench waiting to be called upon. Take Louaki (sp) for example, warms up before the Quins game then has 5/10minutes in the changing rooms followed by 10 minutes sat on the bench. Enters the game and within seconds has pulled a muscle in his calf.

5. Tactics – If you play rugby league in ones as FC tend to do you are going to take more hits from defenders. For example one man takes the ball up and is talked by a three defenders with often a fourth coming in to finish the job. Alternatively you have an attacker in support and at least one of those defenders must stay out of the tackle to mark the supporting attacker. Result ball carrier takes less hits and only has to wrestle with 2/3 defenders on the floor.

These observations are from a guy who watches from the stands with no medical history but if I was paying £1.8m in salary to players I would want to know why for three years in a row half my payroll costs are not performing for me. I would find an independent consultant in this field to carry out some research because to say its bad luck for the third year is unacceptable. There has to be another reason be it signing old injury prone players, fitness, preparation or coaching there has to be a reason beyond just bad luck.

Anybody have any other theories or ideas.'"