Running intensities of training drills in semi-professional rugby league players. A case study

Rugby League is a high intensity intermittent sport requiring speed, agility, strength, power and maximal aerobic power. To address this, coaches compartmentalise training with individual drills designed to develop these attributes. Historically, training sessions and workloads have been prescribed based on empirical evidence or the coach's expert intuition (i.e. 'gut feel'). However, the transition to applied sport science has seen increased use of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to objectively quantify training workloads and assist with planning and periodising training sessions. To date, only one study has described the running intensities of training drills in professional rugby league players with no studies published on semi-professional players. Therefore, the objective of this study was to report the running intensities of training drills commonly used by a semi-professional rugby league team.