It was a very special moment for Andrew Dixon last week.
The back-rower has had his first PhD study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences; a crucial breakthrough into a such an important topic.
His piece, titled: ‘Understanding elite rugby league players’ experience of collision, effective contact coaching techniques, and player contact psychology,’ is a focus group study.
Delving into such a crucial part of the sport, whilst currently an active Betfred Super League player, makes his work even more significant.
To read his study in full, click here to view on the Taylor & Francis website.
In reaction to the news, Dixon has said: “I am elated to have the first study of my PhD published in the Journal of Sport Sciences.
“I am extremely grateful to perform this research with such prolific co-authors and supervisors and hope this study manages to provide some great insights for readers!”
Speaking in more depth, directly to our YouTube channel, Dixon said: “Yeah, it’s a really proud moment.
“It’s been a long time in the making, almost three years now and I’m really excited to have it out there, and I’m really interested to see what people think about it to be honest with you.”
Collisions in the sport has been a huge talking point in recent times, so Dixon believes his research – plus any further people undertake – can only be hugely beneficial for rugby league.
“I feel like it’s a topic of huge significance,” he continued.
“Collision research is in its infancy and that’s not to take away from anything that’s gone before, I just think what this research shows is that there’s a lot of areas for future work to be done.
“I feel like it can only be beneficial for the game to have a player actually playing the game and doing the research as well, so I think it can be greatly beneficial for the game in that there’s not any other sports really that can boast the fact that a player is actually playing, but is actually doing the research as well.”
To hear the full chat with Andrew, head over to our YouTube channel here.
