The Work-Rate of Substitutes in Elite Gaelic Football Match-Play

The Work-Rate of Substitutes in Elite Gaelic Football Match-Play Eoghan Boyle 1, Joe Warne 1 2, Alan Nevill 3 Kieran Collins 1 1Gaelic Sports Research Centre, Technological University Dublin - Tallaght Campus, Dublin, Ireland,2Setanta College, Thurles, Tipperary, Ireland, and 3Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton, UK Running performance | High-intensity | Substitutes | Positional variation

Headline Methodology ccording to a study assessing changes in match running During competitive match-play over two seasons, running per- Aperformance in elite Gaelic football players, there is a sig- formance was measured via a global positioning system (GPS) nificant reduction in relative high-speed distance (RHSD) in sampling at 10-Hz (VX Sport, New Zealand) in a total of 23 the second, third and fourth quarters when compared to the games. Dependent variables consisted of relative total dis- first quarter [1]. Subbed on players in elite soccer were re- tance (RTD; m·min−1), relative high-speed distance (m·−1; ported to cover greater RHSD (19.8 – 25.1 km·h−1) compared ≥17km·h−1), peak speed (km·h−1), peak metabolic power and to full game players [2]. In elite Rugby union, subbed on play- sprints per minute (accel·min−1). Relative total distance was ers generally demonstrated improved running performance in calculated as the total distance (metres) from a single match comparison to full game and subbed off players. Subbed on divided by match-play duration in minutes. Relative high- players also reported a better running performance over their speed distance was calculated as the total high-speed distance first 10 minutes of play compared to the final 10 minutes of (metres; ≥17km·h−1) from a single match divided by match- play of whom they replaced [3]. Existing substitute work- play duration in minutes. Peak speed was calculated as the rate studies across field sports appear to indicate the positive maximum speed (km·h−1) achieved from a single game. Peak impact of a substitute in terms of physical performance. How- metabolic power was calculated as the maximum metabolic ever, there is currently limited information on the impact of output achieved from a single game. Sprints per minute was playing time on Gaelic football match running performance. calculated as the total number of sprints performed from a The relative match-play distances across position comparing single game divided by match-play duration in minutes. full game players, substituted players and substitutes is yet to be investigated in Gaelic football.

Aim The aim of this study was to investigate the work rate pro- file of elite male Gaelic football match-play when comparing substitute status and playing position. It is hypothesised that subbed on players will have a greater work rate profile than both full game and subbed off players.

Methods Athletes Fifty-two inter-county, elite senior male Gaelic football players from a single panel (age: 25 ± 4 years, body mass: 85.6 ± 6.3 Fig. 1. Relative Total Distance (m·min−1) With Respect to Position and Sub- kg and stature: 182 ± 6 cm, respectively) participated in the stitute Status. Error bars represent SD. study. Informed consent was given by local board of ethics for this study and conforming to the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki).

Design Data were collected across the 2017 and 2018 Gaelic football seasons. For the comparison of playing time, players were classified into one or more of three groups; full game (n=37), subbed off (n=38) and subbed on (n=47). A subbed on player was excluded from the analysis if their game time was less than 5-minutes. For the comparison of position, players were classified into one or more of the five playing positions; full back (n=14), half back (n=19), midfield (n=11), half forward −1 −1 (n=19) and full forward (n=18). Fig. 2. Relative High-Speed Distance (m·min ; ≥17km·h ) With Respect to Position and Substitute Status. Error bars represent SD. sportperfsci.com 1 SPSR - 2020 | Mar. | 89 | v1 The Work-Rate of Substitutes in Elite Gaelic Football Match-Play

Table 1. Match Performance of Subbed on Players Versus Full Game or Subbed off Players, Independent of Position. Full game (n = 37) Subbed off ( n = 38) Subbed on (n = 47) RTD (m·min−1) 123 ± 20 126 ± 16 155 ± 25* RHSD (m·min−1; ≥17km·h−1) 22 ± 5 23 ± 5 26 ± 6* Peak Speed (km·h−1) 30.1 ± 1.3 29.4 ± 1.2# 29.0 ± 1.7* Peak Met Power 280 ± 82 274 ± 67 257 ± 89 Sprints·min (accel·min−1) 2.76 ± 0.65 2.76 ± 0.42 3.63 ± 1.17* Significantly different from full game and subbed off players (P ≤ 0.05) = * Significantly different from full game players (P ≤ 0.05) = #

Table 2. Independent-Measures Analysis of Match Performance of Subbed on Players Versus Full Game or Subbed off Players.

Data Analysis Results A three-way ANOVA was conducted to determine if the fac- Mean (±SD) of the descriptive statistics for all variables is tors of playing position (full back, half back, midfield, half for- presented in Table 1 and 2. ward and full forward) or substitute status (full game, subbed There was a significant interaction between playing posi- off and subbed on) were associated with differences in rela- tion and substitute status for RTD covered (p = 0.048, η2p= tive total distance (m·min−1), high-speed distance (m·min−1; 0.936). Results of this interaction can be observed in Figure ≥17km·h−1), peak speed (km·h−1), peak metabolic power and 1. Simple main effects identified that the interaction was due sprints per minute (accel·min−1), where participants were al- to full backs substitution status being different than all other lowed to vary between substitution status as a random effect in positions. We identified that for full backs, the full game play- the ANOVA. Where main effects were observed, post hoc anal- ers did significantly less RTD than both the subbed off (p = ysis was conducted under a Bonferroni adjustment to control 0.024, mean diff = -18 m·min−1, 95% CI [-35 to -2 m·min−1]), for multiple comparisons (SPSS adjusted P values reported). and subbed on players (p = 0.004, mean diff = -26 m·min−1, Significance was accepted where α ≤ 0.05. 95% CI [-7 to 45 m·min−1]), where there was no difference between subbed on and subbed off (p = 1.00, mean diff = -8 m·min−1, 95% CI [-30 to 14 m·min−1]). We also noted that for full game and subbed on players, the middle positions (half back, midfield, and half forward) did significantly more RTD than the full backs and full forwards (as outlined in figure 1). However, as a result of full backs that were subbed off doing more RTD than other groups, the full backs were not signifi- cantly different than these central positions in this subbed off category (all p > 0.95).

Discussion The purpose of the current study was to examine the work- rate profile of elite Gaelic football match-play with specific reference to substitute status. The key findings of the investi- gation were that subbed on reported a significantly higher rel- ative total distance, relative high-speed distance and sprints per minute compared to full game and subbed off players. Therefore, the hypothesis is accepted that subbed on players will have a greater work rate profile compared to those who −1 Fig. 3. Peak Speed (km·h ) With Respect to Position and Substitute Status. played the entire match, and whom they replaced. Error bars represent SD. sportperfsci.com 2 SPSR - 2020 | Mar. | 89 | v1 The Work-Rate of Substitutes in Elite Gaelic Football Match-Play

Increased relative total, and high-speed running by subbed tion on the pitch, allowing them the opportunity to be exposed on players may be explained by a reduced match-play du- to more sprints than those positioned closer to the goals. ration. In support of the current findings, rugby sevens re- search reported that late subbed on players (last quarter) had a greater relative total and high-speed running distance com- Practical Applications pared to full game players [4], [5]. Furthermore, literature in ˆ Coaches need to be cognizant of the game impact which a elite soccer reported that relative high-intensity running was subbed-on player can make based on situational, technical, greater in subbed on players compared with full game players and positional factors. or subbed off players [2]. ˆ Players should be physically prepared based on their posi- Interestingly, in the current investigation, subbed on play- tional requirements. ers also reported a significantly lower peak speed compared to both full game and subbed off players. Research in elite soccer Limitations similarly reported that subbed on players had a significantly ˆ lower peak speed when compared to those who played the full The current profile fails to consider the technical consider- game and were subbed off [6]. The reduced peak speed by ations placed on subbed on players. It is of limited value subbed on players may be explained by full game and subbed to the team if the work rate of a subbed on player is high whilst not impacting on the game. off players spending a longer duration on the field of play, thus ˆ giving them a greater opportunity to reach their peak speed. Match dynamics (winning and losing; ranking of opponent; Literature in elite rugby similarly reported match-play dura- playing at home or away) were not taken into consideration. tion as an explanation for reduced peak acceleration by subbed on players [4]. Subbed on players performed more sprints per Dataset minute compared to both full game and subbed off players. Dataset available on SportPerfSci.com. Similar to total and high-speed distance, match-play duration is most likely a contributing factor. A hierarchy in positional work-rate was observed with the References three middle positional lines covering the greatest relative to- 1.S. Malone, B. Solan, and K. Collins, “The running perfor- tal, and relative high-speed running distance, with this posi- mance profile of elite gaelic football match-play,” J. Strength tional trend in line with existing elite Gaelic football literature Cond. Res., vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 30–36, Jan. 2017. [1,7,8]. These “central” positions are often referred to as the 2.P. S. Bradley, C. Lago-Pe˜nas,and E. Rey, “Evaluation of transitional lines; the link between attack and defence. The the match performances of substitution players in elite soc- multi-disciplinary role of these middle positional lines means cer,” Int. J. Sports Physiol. Perform., vol. 9, no. 3, pp. they can be consistently involved in both attacking and de- 415–424, 2014. fending periods, thus increasing match-play work rate [1,7]. As 3.M. Lacome, J. Piscione, J. P. Hager, and C. Carling, “Anal- a result, full backs and full forwards had a significantly lower ysis of running and technical performance in substitute players relative total, and relative high-speed distance compared to in international male rugby union competition,” Int. J. Sports all other positional lines. Similarly, previous research found Physiol. Perform., vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 783–792, Sep. 2016. full backs had a significantly lower relative high-speed dis- 4.A. M. Murray and M. C. Varley, “Activity profile of in- tance compared to all other positions except full forwards [1]. ternational rugby sevens: Effect of score line, opponent, and Therefore, the findings of the current study conform with the substitutes,” Int. J. Sports Physiol. Perform., vol. 10, no. 6, existing knowledge that the three central positional lines have pp. 791–801, 2015. a greater work rate when compared to both full back and full 5.D. G. Higham, D. B. Pyne, J. M. Anson, and A. Eddy, forwards. “Movement patterns in rugby sevens: Effects of tournament No significant difference was reported for peak speed across level, fatigue and substitute players,” J. Sci. Med. Sport, vol. playing position. This finding is in line with previous Gaelic 15, no. 3, pp. 277–282, May 2012. football research which found no main effects for peak speed 6.A. Padr´on-Cabo, E. Rey, B. Vidal, and J. Garc´ıa-Nu˜nez, with respect of playing position across quarters [1]. More “Work-rate analysis of substitute players in professional soc- recent literature also discovered no significant variation in cer: Analysis of seasonal variations,” J. Hum. Kinet., vol. 65, sprint time across positions in elite Gaelic football players [10]. no. 1, pp. 165–174, 2018. The current study reported no significant differences for peak 7.S. Malone, B. Solan, K. D. Collins, and D. A. Doran, “Posi- metabolic power across position and substitute status. Con- tional Match Running Performance in Elite Gaelic Football,” trastingly, other elite Gaelic football literature reported mid- J. Strength Cond. Res., vol. 30, no. 8, pp. 2292–2298, 2016. fielders having a significantly greater average metabolic power 8.S. Mangan et al., “The relationship between technical per- compared to full backs, full forwards and half forwards. Po- formance indicators and running performance in elite Gaelic sitional differences in average metabolic power have also been football,” Int. J. Perform. Anal. Sport, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. reported in other field sports, including elite soccer [11]. The 706–720, Sep. 2017. non-significant positional variation in the current study may 9.S. Malone, B. Solan, K. Collins, and D. Doran, “Manuscript be due to peak metabolic power being reported in compari- Title: The metabolic power and energetic demands of Elite son to average. Half backs and midfielders performed signif- Gaelic football Title: The metabolic and estimated energetic icantly more sprints per minute compared to full-backs and demands of Elite Gaelic football match play,” 2017. full-forwards. This is in line with existing elite Gaelic football 10.A. Shovlin, M. Roe, S. Malone, and K. Collins, “Positional literature, which reported half backs and midfielders to per- anthropometric and performance profile of elite gaelic foot- form a higher number of accelerations compared to all other ball players,” J. Strength Cond. Res., vol. 32, no. 8, pp. positions (7). Similar to total and high-speed running, this 2356–2362, 2018. finding may be explained by the variation in positional role. 11.A. Mart´ın-Garc´ıa, D. Casamichana, A. G´omezD´ıaz, F. Half backs and midfielders (central positions) are naturally Cos, and T. J. Gabbett, “Positional differences in the most more involved in match-play action due to their literal posi- demanding passages of play in football competition,” J. Sport. Sci. Med., vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 563–570, 2018. sportperfsci.com 3 SPSR - 2020 | Mar. | 89 | v1 The Work-Rate of Substitutes in Elite Gaelic Football Match-Play

Copyright: The articles published on Science Performance and Science source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if Reports are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribu- changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication tion 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the

sportperfsci.com 4 SPSR - 2020 | Mar. | 89 | v1