The relationships between pre-match hydration status, match performance, injury and body mass changes in elite Australian footballers

All ARF matches are more than two hours in duration and demand highintensity, intermittent exercise. Depending on position, top-level players have been reported to cover between 10.7-20.1 km in a match (Dawson et al., 2004). Although ARF is a winter sport, matches are quite often played in warm climates, particularly in the northern states of Australia. Combined, these factors mean that players may be at risk of high levels of dehydration and suggest that monitoring fluid status changes in players may be important.