ABSTRACT
Australian Rules Football is a collision sport played by two teams of 18 players on a large oval field, each game comprising four quarters of 25 min playing time each. The rules of play provide for a game of continuous activity. Physical conditioning for Australian Rules Football has traditionally centred on the development of the player's aerobic capacity through endurance running (Smith, 1983). Little emphasis has been placed on other facets of physical conditioning (Taggert, 1982). In addition it has been the convention to commence pre-season training in the January following a competitive season which lasted from April to September of the previous year (Taggert, 1982). This results in the loss of practice time which might be better devoted to skill acquisition and enhancement (Taggert, 1982).
