Influence of playing standard and physical fitness on activity profiles and post-match fatigue during intensified junior rugby league competition

Sports Medicine - Open

Table 1 Physical qualities and average match activity profiles across the tournament between the high- and low-standard team

	High-standard	Low-standard	ES	Likelihood
Playing time (min)	36 ± 6	30 ± 8	0.85	96%, very likely
Distance covered (m)	3,327 ± 588*	2,516 ± 720	1.24	100%, almost certain
Relative distance (m·min⁻¹)	90 ± 7*	85 ± 7	0.71	92%, likely
Low-speed activity (m)	2,525 ± 444	2,074 ± 576	0.88	96%, very likely
Low-speed activity (m·min⁻¹)	71 ± 5	69 ± 6	0.19	56%, possibly
Moderate-speed running (m)	434 ± 115*	274 ± 94	1.52	100%, almost certain
Moderate-speed running (m·min⁻¹)	13 ± 3*	9 ± 2	1.58	100%, almost certain
High-speed running (m)	174 ± 51*	116 ± 58	1.07	99%, very likely
High- speed running (m·min⁻¹)	4.3 ± 1.1	3.8 ± 1.0	0.52	81%, likely
Match speed vs. Yo-Yo speed (%)	34 ± 3	34 ± 3	0.05	25%, unlikely
Collisions
Total (no.)	15 ± 7*	9 ± 3	1.30	100%, almost certain
Total (no./min)	0.4 ± 0.2*	0.3 ± 0.1	0.72	76%, likely
Repeated high-intensity efforts
Bouts (no.)	3.2 ± 1.8*	1.3 ± 0.6	1.43	100%, almost certain
Bout frequency (no./min)	1 every 17 min*	1 every 23 min	0.62	85%, likely
Internal Loads
RPE (AU)	5 ± 2	3 ± 1	1.06	98%, very likely
Session RPE (AU)	180 ± 39*	109 ± 37	1.90	100%, almost certain
Physical Qualities
Yo-Yo IRT (m)	1,420 ± 337*	922 ± 227	1.73	100%, almost certain

Low-speed activity = 0 to 3.5 m·s⁻¹; moderate-speed running = 3.6 to 5.0 m·s⁻¹; high-speed running = ≥5.1 m·s⁻¹. RPE = rating of perceived exertion; session RPE = playing time × RPE; Yo-Yo IRT = Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1. ES = effect size, 0.20 to 0.60, 0.61 to 1.19, and >1.20 were considered small, moderate, and large, respectively. Likelihoods ≥75% are classified as practically meaningful. *Denotes a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between playing standards.