The gps system shows much more information than compiling stats. GPS can give you real time data so you know how much work each player is doing, which would be very useful in terms of interchanges. While stats can give you metres covered in a game, they do not indicate the intensity of the distance covered; as it is a sport where repeated sprint ability dominates this becomes a very important factor, as simply distance covered could be misleading. The system also gives you running and movement patterns of each palyer, so will indicate differences between positions and allow you to tailor conditioning to the position and even the individual that are truly specific. HR can be shown, and what % of their max each player is working at allowing exertion rates to be calculated indicating how taxed the players are; it would be useful in training as a monitoring tool, but the activio heart rate system that someone mentioned is more likely to be used in training as it is more simple to implement but only gives you HR zones, and exertion rates. The gps also calculates the force applied in each collision and gives you more insight into the physiological demands of the game. Using such a system is vital in order to monitor intensity and volume load for each player so that you can assess improvements in fitness and prevent overtraining; as well as making conditioning and training more sport specific.

All in all it is excellent news that the bulls are progressing with sport science; and the rest of super league by the sounds of things. In elite level sport doing all the little thinggs correctly can make a huge difference in terms of results on the pitch.

You certainly sound very clued up on it RB! Do you work for the makers?? Seriously, it sounds very impressive and all encompassing, though I guess we`ll have to suck it and see, with the proof of the pudding and all that (and any other clichés I can come up with!). It`s probably better to get in at the beginning with this kind of training aid and if it turns out to be a waste of time and money it can be ditched later. It would be much more difficult to try and catch up later if is a success and we hadn`t bothered.

The one caveat I would throw in though, is that whilst technology is often a brilliant slave it can be a very poor master, and like gps use in a car, sometimes you just have to use common sense and overrule the machine.

We've got the same system down here in Perpignan, but like Warrington are only allowed to use it in training at the moment. Still if Bradford have been given permission to use it in a match it shouldn't be long before it is allowed here!

No dont work for the makers, have done some work about gps monitoring with my MSc, may be doing my dissertation on it. At first they were a bit dodgy, but they are getting better and better, the ones out at the minute are pretty good, except the pack worn in the vest is still pretty large (bout the size of a mobile), no doubt as the technology progresses they will get smaller. If you took a bang straight on the pack it would hurt a bit, but on your backs it is unlikey to happen. I noticed kevin sinfield was wearin one in the Australia game, im sure others were too.

All sounds very interesting. Good to see the club being innovative and being amongst the first clubs to use it.

It'd be good if there was some description of this at the fans forum.