ACL risks are still high for AFLW players, according to AFL injury report

The spate of ACL injuries in the AFLW flatlined last season are women footballers are still at a much higher risk of suffering knee reconstructions than the men.

Women remain almost five times more likely to suffer anterior cruciate ligament tears playing football than their male counterparts and have a significantly higher risk of concussion despite the AFLW’s overall injury rate remaining steady in 2019.

The league’s 2019 AFLW Injury Report, which was released on Wednesday, showed nine ACL injuries were suffered by players across the competition’s 10 clubs this year.

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There were nine ACL injuries suffered across the league in 2018, but it was then made up of only eight clubs.

The per club decline meant the AFLW had 5.14 ACL injuries per 1000 player hours in 2019, down from 6.47 per 1000 player hours in 2018.

Adelaide star Erin Phillips injures her knee during the AFLW grand final earlier this year. Picture: AAP

However, the figure still dwarfs the men’s competition, with the 2018 AFL Injury Report showing an incidence of just 1.11 ACL injuries per 1000 player hours.

There were 14 diagnosed concussions from AFLW matches last season, down from 16 in 2018.

That made for an incidence rate of 11.51 per 1000 player hours, compared to just 7.45 in the men’s competition in 2018.

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Overall, new injuries per club per season across the AFLW remained steady at 6.8, with games missed dropping from 21.3 to 17.8.

“We will continue to research ways of reducing injury rates and implement the best practice for injury reduction, management and recovery,” AFL head of women’s football Nicole Livingstone said.

“While it is encouraging to see a drop in both rate of concussions and ACL injuries, they still remain our priority focus regarding prevention.”