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Kicking in for Rugby League

30 September 2009

Melbourne Storm's Cameron Smith

Monash mathematician Dr Burkard Polster and his colleague Dr Marty Ross have applied their mathematical insights to the game of Rugby League, in an attempt to improve players' kicking for conversions.

In rugby league a try is scored when a player grounds the ball in his opponent's in-goal area. After scoring a try, a player will then attempt a two point conversion, by kicking from a spot on the field in line with where the try was scored.

"Building on previous investigations, our aim was to come up with a mathematical model, telling us the best spot on this line from which to kick," Dr Polster said.

"Choosing the optimal conversion spot becomes more important when the try has been scored close to the sideline, and the conversion is more difficult."

Dr Polster said the research suggested players may generally be placing the ball too close to the goal line.

"When shooting from the sideline most players seem to favour placing the ball around 25 metres away from the goal line," he said.

"Our model suggests that strong kickers should be kicking from further away, at 30 metres or beyond.

"This slight adjustment may result in a small but significant improvement in the players' kicking accuracy."

He said kickers would also improve their chances by lowering the initial kicking angle of the ball and kicking as hard as was comfortable.

Drs Polster and Ross caution their mathematical model was only a first step towards solving the problem of optimal kicking distances.

"Our mathematical formulas are correct, so it's probably worth a kick or two," Dr Polster said.

"Who knows it may just mean the winning formula for this year's premiers!"