Two teams of junior rugby league players have stepped into the high-tech world of professional NRL athletes by taking part in a QUT wearable technology project at the 2025 Queensland Junior Murri Carnival.
The carnival was held at Brendale on Brisbane’s northside last week and attracted around 2000 participants.
The QUT Centre for Data Science and QUT Sport project kitted out 30 teenagers in two under-16s teams (boys and girls) with professional-grade Catapult wearable devices which track performance metrics such as acceleration, top speed, contact involvement and heart rate.
They are the same ones NRL players wear under their jerseys during games and training.
The devices were tucked into custom-made pockets inside the back of the players’ jerseys and fed live data back to the on-site QUT team, which included data scientists, exercise scientists and the visiting QUT Sport Tech Van.
Project leader and data scientist Becki Cook, a proud Nunukul Aboriginal woman, said the stats were shared with the young players immediately after their games through dashboards and visualisations and let them see how they compared to the pros.
“The project has a big picture goal of giving young people new and exciting ways to understand and take control of their health and wellbeing and improve their data literacy,” Ms Cook said.
“We want to show them how data can be a powerful tool for self-awareness, informed decision-making, and long-term health outcomes.
“The players got to see their data on the spot and also take home the results, including team profiles and their own data.”
Both teams involved in the project – the ATSICHS Young Guns and ATSICHS Tiddas – were sponsored by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service Brisbane.
The Queensland Junior Murri Carnival has a strong focus on health, vocation and education, with players able to explore a mini expo at the site.
QUT is a sponsor of the carnival and hosted activities and information tents at this year’s event.
The QUT Sport Tech Van was one of the popular attractions, with its equipment also contributing to the data science project.
QUT sports officer (Indigenous pathways) Rickie Dodd said the van, which was also at last year’s carnival, used technology to make health literacy fun and interactive.
“The Sport Tech Van lets young people see their own data in real time,” he said.
“We use that to spark up a conversation about healthy choices, study pathways and future careers.
“When you can watch your sprint time drop or your reaction score improve on the screen, sport becomes the classroom. It’s fun, inclusive and builds practical health literacy.
“This year we built on the GPS athlete tracking Catapults and demonstrated AI broadcasting, showing students how the cameras track their game and pull together highlight reels.”
Mr Dodd takes the van and its technology around Queensland as part of the QUT Sport Tech Outreach Program.
The van visited Cairns and Rockhampton over winter this year, with its next stop after the Murri Carnival being the Gold Coast Titans All Schools (GCTAS) touch football tournament at Runaway Bay from October 8.
Ms Cook is currently undertaking a PhD at the QUT Centre for Data Science, under the supervision of leading Australian statistician Distinguished Professor Kerrie Mengersen.
Her PhD research explores Indigenous data literacy through Indigenous Research Methodologies, with a focus on elevating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and priorities in the field of data science.
The QUT sports data science project team that worked on the analytics at the Murri Carnival included Ms Cook, Bruna Bittencourt Sotomaior, Sithara Wijekoon, Morenikeji Akinlotan, Alex Liu and Bernadette Hyland-Wood.
Centre for Data Science members Ashley Stewart, Fiona Carson-Flynn and Chantel Thoms also attended and supported the event.
Photo at top of page: Data scientist Becki Cook fits a Catapult performance tracker to a young player.
QUT Media contacts:
- Mechelle McMahon, media@qut.edu.au
- After hours, 0407 585 901 or media@qut.edu.au
