McGuckin, Teneale, Sinclair, Wade, and Sealey, Rebecca (2012) Home advantage in the Australia Rugby League competition. In: Proceedings of the 5th Exercise & Sports Science Australia Conference and 7th Sports Dietitians Australia Update. SS103. p. 179. From: 5th Exercise & Sports Science Australia Conference and 7th Sports Dietitians Australia Update Research to Practice, 19-21 April 2012, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.

PDF (Published Version) - Published Version Restricted to Repository staff only

Abstract

Introduction: Home advantage or home teams winning the majority of games has been suggested to occur in team sports. Home advantage may occur when the home team wins over 50% of games played at home. Three factors which may influence home advantage in Australian rugby league are the learning, crowd and/or travel factors. All teams in the National Rugby League competition are required to travel both domestically and internationally to compete in 'away' games and therefore travel requirements range from travelling across town to travelling in excess of 3000 km. The aim of the study was to identify if there is a home advantage evident in elite rugby league by using home winning percentage and away winning. percentage across a 10 year period of the NRL. It is hypothesised that a home advantage will be evident in the NRL competition.

Methods: Game statistics from the NRL competition for 10 seasons (2001 -2010) for 15 RL teams were obtained from a freely accessible website. All teams played in at least 80% of the assessed com petition period with one team excluded from analysis as the team only joined the competition in 2007. Games were included if they contributed to a balanced season, whereby teams play their opposition both at home and away during the competitive season. Statistics from the games (n=1398) were analysed for home advantage (home teams winning over 50% of games). The percentages were calculated using the combined results of all 15 teams for each year with the home winning percentage and away winning percentage being calculated from the total number of games won. Drawn games were not included in the analysis.

Results: Collectively, RL teams showed an average home advantage of 57.28% between 2001-2010 (Table 1). Individual team's home advantage averaged 56.6 ± 5.34% ranging from 44.14-63.41%.

Conclusion/Discussion: The current findings are important for rugby league coaching staff as it is now known that a home advantage exists; further research is warranted to identify the factors contributing to home advantage and why there is a decrease in performance while away.

Item ID:	22896
Item Type:	Conference Item (Presentation)
ISBN:	978-0-9873065-0-0
Date Deposited:	21 Aug 2012 05:16
FoR Codes:	11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1106 Human Movement and Sports Science > 110699 Human Movement and Sports Science not elsewhere classified @ 100%
SEO Codes:	95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9501 Arts and Leisure > 950102 Organised Sports @ 100%
Downloads:	Total: 6
	More Statistics