Junior Australian football injury research : are we moving forward?

Summarise the progress of junior Australian football (AF) injury research in line with the six stages of the 'Translating Research into Injury Prevention Practice' (TRIPP) model, in order to direct future research for the area. Systematically searched narrative review. Bibliographic research databases (Medline, PubMed, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus™) were used to search for original studies in which injuries in junior AF players were investigated. 18 studies (NHMRC levels of evidence ranging from NHMRC II-IV) addressed junior AF injuries within the TRIPP model. Injury surveillance (stage 1) was represented by five studies, aetiology and mechanism of injury (stage 2) was represented by various contributions from 12 studies, and injury prevention (stages 3-6) was represented by five papers. All papers addressing TRIPP stage 1 suffered from methodological discrepancies and inconsistencies in the data that are reported. Hence, a consistent injury definition and ongoing injury surveillance remains a priority. Injury research at the junior level of AF is predominantly situated at stage 2 of the TRIPP process. It can be postulated that most junior AF injury prevention programs are based upon senior AF research and anecdotal evidence due to the paucity of studies addressing stages 3-6.