Hi-tech NRL

Hi-tech wearable tracking devices provide NRL broadcasters and fans unprecedented insight into player performance – as fans have surely noticed with the endless stats flashed up during television match broadcasts.

But there is another purpose for those wearable devices.

In combination with an equally-hi-tech analytics program, the devices give coaches, trainers, analysts, doctors and players a better insight into player/team performance and player well-being, using the data collected by the wearable trackers.

Players wear the micro-technology devices in the upper back between the shoulder blades, either in what looks like a sports bra (hey, it’s a GPS vest!), or it can also be inserted in a pocket stitched in to the players’ jerseys.

You will also often see players wearing only the GPS vest during training sessions.

The micro-technology devices have two aspects:

1. Locational based: via a GPS it provides information on where the player is and how much distance he is covering during a match, or in training. Positional, speed, distance, acceleration and deceleration is captured through this aspect. 

2. Inertia sensor: this monitors things like tackles and impacts. It can monitor when a player has been tackled and also the force of the collision.

The devices also track and provide important vital health data on each player – heart rate and body temperature included.

For coaches, trainers and analysts the devices provide real-time data on game day.


Wearable trackers were first introduced in the State of Origin series in 2017. Every player involved in the State of Origin series started wearing a special RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) which allowed host broadcaster Channel Nine to enhance the statistical component of its coverage via what is still known as the Telstra Tracker.

Australia leading the way

Catapult Sport is the name of the company involved in providing the NRL with this state-of-the-art sport wearable technology. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Catapult was officially founded as far back as 2006.

The origins going even further back as the result of a partnership between the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) to maximize the performance of Australian athletes ahead of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

The company, is now based in Melbourne and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

According to its website:

Catapult exists to unleash the potential of every athlete and team on earth. Operating at the intersection of sports science and analytics, Catapult products are designed to optimize performance, avoid injury, and quantify return to play. Catapult has over 400 staff based across 24 locations worldwide, working with more than 3,800 elite teams in over 100 countries globally.

Given the nature and structure of NRL, the platform is a perfect environment to ‘capture, analyse, plan, share every aspect of performance’.

In 2022 Catapult announced an expanded relationship with the National Rugby League (NRL), in an exclusive deal to utilize performance technologies across all functions of the league, including match officials.

For the first time, all 16 teams in the NRL and six NRLW teams, in addition to the Australian National teams and NRL referees, started using Catapult's Vector SaaS technology to empower data-driven decisions to improve player performance, quantify decisions to help prevent injuries, and inform return to play.

Catapult continues to provide live game data to support the NRL’s broadcast commitments via their partnership with Telstra, which fans would recognise as the Telstra Tracker.

This data is captured from Catapult’s proprietary ClearSky Local Positioning System, installed across NRL's network of stadiums and will be used by the NRL to deepen fan engagement during games. Catapult’s Vector SaaS technology delivers next level accuracy, usability, and efficiency to empower critical sports science and tactical decisions. Vector’s SaaS technology provides an integrated and comprehensive view of performance, in real time, leveraging the latest data science to help players and teams find answers to complex performance questions. 

Fun fan facts

The Telstra Tracker was used to provide a list of the top 20 fastest players in the NRL in 2023. Imagine these players coming at you at up to 37 km/h...

1. Ronaldo Mulitalo (Sharks) 37.188km/h

2. Jason Saab (Sea Eagles) 37.116km/h

3. Maika Sivo (Eels) 36.864km/h

4. Dominic Young (Knights) 36.828km/h

5. Josh Addo-Carr (Bulldogs) 36.756km/h

6. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Dolphins) 36.684km/h

7. Alofiana Khan-Pereira (Titans) 36.144km/h

8. Mitchell Moses (Eels) 36.108km/h

9. Jake Averillo (Bulldogs) 36.072km/h

10. Kalyn Ponga (Knights) 35.892km/h

11. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (Roosters) 35.784km/h

12. Dylan Edwards (Panthers) 35.748km/h

13. Jahream Bula (Tigers) 35.748km/h

14. Blake Wilson (Bulldogs) 35.712km/h

15. Tyrell Sloan (Dragons) 35.676km/h

16. Herbie Farnworth (Broncos) 35.64km/h

17. Reuben Garrick (Sea Eagles) 35.64km/h

18. Fetalaiga Pauga (Roosters) 35.64km/h

19. Clinton Gutherson (Eels) 35.532km/h

20. Reece Walsh (Broncos) 35.46km/h

(Player stats: Telstra Tracker / News Corp) 

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