Improving performance on and off the field will be the goal of QUT data scientist Associate Professor Dimitri Perrin during a full-time placement with Queensland Rugby Union.
Professor Perrin, who specialises in AI, data analysis and bioinformatics, will work closely with players and staff during the six-month placement with the Queensland Reds, aligning with the 2025 Super Rugby season.
Data will be used to improve various aspects of the Brisbane-based club - from analysing kicking patterns, to the risk of injury, and identifying talent.
"Data can be used to understand the risk of injury - how it differs between different positions and how it evolves during a game, an entire season or a whole career,'' Professor Perrin said.
"It can also be used to understand the performance of individual players and of the whole team, and to develop new strategies. It can be used to track career progression or study specific skills such as goal kicking.''
Professor Perrin, who is in the QUT School of Computer Science as well as a chief investigator at the QUT Centre for Data Science, has already been working closely with the Reds during the past year, exploring "initial ideas'' and supervising student projects.
He says data is playing an increasingly important role in sports.
"While rugby does not have decades of statistical analysis behind it, as baseball does, for example, there has been significant developments in recent years,'' he said.
"There is a lot we can do in several areas, and there is no better way to accelerate this work than to spend an extended period embedded with the team.
"The Reds are an ambitious team with an interest in optimising every aspect of their performance, but they are also genuinely open-minded and willing to take risks and be challenged. It makes it a great environment for research.
"Spending time directly with them will deepen my understanding and help me develop innovative methods that have genuine impact. It will also help the Reds make the most of data in all aspects of their operations.''
Professor Perrin will collaborate with the Reds' coaches, the analytics team and Sam Cordingley, the Queensland Reds General Manager, Professional Rugby.
Mr Cordingley said Professor Perrin's expertise was "a level of experience we have never had until now'' and credited a positive partnership with QUT for the opportunity.
QUT has been a major partner of the QRU since 2022. Work-integrated learning opportunities for QUT students have been ongoing at Ballymore in athletic performance, sports science, nutrition and analysis.
"Dimitri's ability to be able to look at all inputs of data, be it sports science, GPS movements from the training field, list management information and so on, will put us in the best place to make decisions," Mr Cordingley said.
"Initially, we thought we'd be going down the path of athletic performance, but we quickly established that the data science and IT area is a real opportunity.
"QUT is at the cutting edge in terms of applications for Artificial Intelligence and we will have one of the best intellects leading us down that path.
"It will be mutually beneficial.''
Professor Mark Harvey, QUT Vice-President (Engagement), said it was exciting to see the "highly valued partnership'' with the Reds take another leap forward.
"I don't know of any other sporting code or team in Australia that has had access to a data analytics expert of the calibre of Professor Perrin,'' Professor Harvey said.
"His expertise and innovative research will be invaluable to the QRU and to QUT students undertaking placements and work-integrated learning at Ballymore.''
