The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a tailored footwear programme on lower-limb comfort in professional rugby league players. The study was conducted over 30 weeks and involved two professional teams (n = 59 players) from the Australian National Rugby League competition. One team was assigned to a footwear programme (intervention), while players from the control group continued usual practices of self-selected footwear. The tailored footwear programme consisting of player education, prescription of footwear, and frequent rotation of footwear resulted in a lower incidence of injury and higher comfort ratings. The intervention group had fewer lower-limb injuries (p = 0.005; Cohen d = 0.72) and higher comfort ratings (p < 0.001, Cohen d = 1.24) than the control group. Specifically, the intervention group reported a lower incidence of poor comfort events (mean 3.8, SD 2.7) than the control group (mean 7.9, SD 3.7). Observations also included fewer time loss events in the intervention (mean 6.3, SD 4.8) than the control group (mean 11.0, SD 6.3) and reduced injuries per 1,000 h in the intervention (24.79/1,000) than the control group (30.76/1,000). These findings should help medical advisers improve footwear comfort in sportspeople and so reduce the incidence of related injuries.

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