Cooperative passing network features are associated with successful match outcomes in the Australian Football League

Fransen, J; Tribolet, R; Sheehan, WB; McBride, I; Novak, AR; Watsford, ML

Cooperative passing network features are associated with successful match outcomes in the Australian Football League

Fransen, J

Tribolet, R

Sheehan, WB McBride, I Novak, AR Watsford, ML

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Publisher:: SAGE Publications
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 2022, pp. 174795412110527
Issue Date:: 2022-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Fransen, J https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3355-1848
dc.contributor.author	Tribolet, R https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9252-1900
dc.contributor.author	Sheehan, WB
dc.contributor.author	McBride, I
dc.contributor.author	Novak, AR
dc.contributor.author	Watsford, ML
dc.date.accessioned	2022-01-27T03:56:46Z
dc.date.available	2022-01-27T03:56:46Z
dc.date.issued	2022-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 2022, pp. 174795412110527
dc.identifier.issn	1747-9541
dc.identifier.issn	2048-397X
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/153637
dc.description.abstract	Collective behaviour is an important component of team performance in team sports. This study used a binomial generalised linear mixed effects regression model to investigate the relationship between cooperative passing network characteristics and match outcomes of professional Australian Football League competition games across four seasons between 2016 and 2019. It divided a sample of 1629 observations into a training and testing partition used to develop and assess the validity of the model used in this study, respectively. The results of this study reveal that a team's connectedness is associated with the probability of winning Australian Football League games (Akaike Information Criterion = 1637.3, residual df= 1297, deviance = 1625.3). When most players within a team are involved in the team's passing network bidirectionally (i.e. a well-connected network; odds ratio = 1.053; 95% confidence interval: 4.2–6.5%, p < 0.001), teams have a higher probability of winning. The centralisation of a team's passing network was not significantly related to match outcomes. The classification accuracy for the model associating network characteristics with match outcomes was 69%. Collectively, these findings suggest that Australian Football League-specific network features should be incorporated within existing performance analysis methods and can provide a useful, practical tool for coaches to measure collective performance during team practice.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	SAGE Publications
dc.relation.ispartof	International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/17479541211052760
dc.rights	Fransen J, Tribolet R, Sheehan WB, McBride I, Novak AR, Watsford ML. Cooperative passing network features are associated with successful match outcomes in the Australian Football League. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. December 2021.. https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541211052760
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
dc.subject	11 Medical and Health Sciences, 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
dc.title	Cooperative passing network features are associated with successful match outcomes in the Australian Football League
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	11 Medical and Health Sciences
utslib.for	17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
utslib.copyright.embargo	2022-03-31T00:00:00+1000Z
dc.date.updated	2022-01-27T03:56:44Z
pubs.publication-status	Published

Abstract:

Collective behaviour is an important component of team performance in team sports. This study used a binomial generalised linear mixed effects regression model to investigate the relationship between cooperative passing network characteristics and match outcomes of professional Australian Football League competition games across four seasons between 2016 and 2019. It divided a sample of 1629 observations into a training and testing partition used to develop and assess the validity of the model used in this study, respectively. The results of this study reveal that a team's connectedness is associated with the probability of winning Australian Football League games (Akaike Information Criterion = 1637.3, residual df= 1297, deviance = 1625.3). When most players within a team are involved in the team's passing network bidirectionally (i.e. a well-connected network; odds ratio = 1.053; 95% confidence interval: 4.2–6.5%, p < 0.001), teams have a higher probability of winning. The centralisation of a team's passing network was not significantly related to match outcomes. The classification accuracy for the model associating network characteristics with match outcomes was 69%. Collectively, these findings suggest that Australian Football League-specific network features should be incorporated within existing performance analysis methods and can provide a useful, practical tool for coaches to measure collective performance during team practice.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/153637