Studies of injury in rugby league football have previously reported rates of injury higher than for many other team sports (Gissane et al., 1998). This may be due to the fact that rugby league is a contact sport in which athletes experience a large number of high speed body collisions, which, along with the effects of varying field conditions makes it a very physically demanding sport. Although the use of protective equipment such as shoulder pads, head guards and gum shields helps to reduce the effects of substantial impacts, they by no means totally eradicate them and indeed injuries to even the most protected areas of the body frequently occur.

The likelihood that a rugby player may get injured is, to a certain extent, dictated by his position on the field of play. During a game of rugby league, there are three front row forwards, three back row forwards, two inside backs and five outside backs. The six forwards are involved mostly in the middle of the ruck area where the play restarts for each tackle in the set of six (Gibbs, 1993). Therefore, they are more physically involved, both during attack and defence, than the backs who are positioned outside of the forwards for t

- Reese, cited in Butterworth & Heineman, 1994.

The application of tape is unique to each individual joint and injury type, therefore, a knowledge of the basic principles and practical aspects is essential if the full value of the technique is to be attained (Butterworth & Heineman, 1994).

The traumatic injuries to the knee usually involve the ligaments (Hamill & Knutzen, 1995). Ligament injuries of the knee are a common occurrence in any sport that involves a change of direction at speed, jumping or twisting, or direct contact between competitors (Bollen, 1998). Simply, any turn on a weight bearing limb leaves the knee joint vulnerable to ligament injury (Hamill & Knutzen, 1995).

Some common words found in the essay are:
League Studies, Rugby League, et al, gissane et al, rugby league, gissane et, gibbs 1993, et al 1998, injury rugby, al 1998, injury rugby league, risk injury, cited gissane, Injury Rugby, sparks 1981, row forwards, cited gissane et, alexander et al,
Approximate Word count = 2983
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)