What you'll investigate

The successful applicant will examine the relationship between measures of external load (e.g. speed & distance) and game tactics/style of play in elite Australian Football.

This project will be based at Melbourne Football Club where you will be embedded as a crucial member of the performance staff, having involvement in the day-to-day delivery of the football program. You will work closely with Selwyn Griffith and Dr Jake Jennings as well as other club staff.

Scholarship package

The successful applicant will be awarded a scholarship package consisting of:

Your research community

Principal supervisor

Professor Stuart Cormack

Professor Stuart Cormack has been involved in High Performance Sport as both a practitioner and researcher for over 25 years. His career has spanned Olympic Sport through work at the Australian Institute of Sport and Professional Sport via roles at multiple Australian Football League clubs. Professor Cormack has published numerous papers and book chapters in a variety of areas related to athlete performance with a particular focus on load and fatigue. As part of his role at ACU, Professor Cormack is the Deputy Director and Performance lead of the Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre. In addition, Professor Cormack regularly provides consultancy to a range of National and International Sporting Programs.

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The ACU supervisory team will also include Associate Professor Richard Johnston and Associate Professor Paul Tofari.

Faculty

Faculty of Health Sciences

Research at the Faculty of Health Sciences is driven by a commitment to improving health outcomes and advancing evidence-based practice across diverse communities. With a strong interdisciplinary focus, our researchers collaborate across nursing, allied health, public health, and biomedical sciences to address pressing health challenges locally and globally.

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Affiliation

Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre

SPRINT Research Centre is dedicated to advancing the fields of sports performance, recovery, and injury prevention through innovative research and collaboration. Our mission is to optimise human performance. We strive to translate our findings into practical applications that benefit athletes, sports organisations, and the wider community, ensuring that our research leads to measurable improvements in health and performance.

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Industry partner

Melbourne Football Club

This PhD scholarship is being jointly funded by ACU and Melbourne Football Club. The project will be based at Melbourne Football Club and involve working closely with Selwyn Griffith and Dr Jake Jennings as well as other club staff.

Visit the Melbourne Football Club website

How to apply

Applications close: Monday 13 July 2026, 11:59 pm AEST

Step 1: Assess your eligibility

Eligibility

Before you apply, confirm you meet the following eligibility criteria:

• This opportunity is open to domestic applicants only.
• The eligibility criteria for the PhD program at ACU can be found in the Higher Degree Research Policy.
• The eligibility criteria for research scholarships can be found in the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy.

Requirements

In addition to the eligibility criteria, the successful applicant should:

• have experience working in High Performance Sport, particularly team field sport environments such as Australian Football, Soccer or Rugby codes.
• possess a strong interest in understanding team sport performance from both a physio-mechanical and technical/tactical perspective.
• have experience working with measurement technology such as GNSS devices and various software programs.
• be familiar with the measurement of capacity, load, fatigue and performance in athletes.

Conditions

By applying, you acknowledge and accept the following conditions:

• The scholarship package is subject to satisfactory progress and full-time study mode.
• The scholarship conditions align with the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy.
• The successful applicant will be required to assign their intellectual property (IP) to ACU as a condition of enrolment.

Step 2: Express your interest

Interested candidates are encouraged to contact Professor Stuart Cormack prior to applying for the PhD program and scholarship, to express their interest and discuss the project in detail.

Email: stuart.cormack@acu.edu.au

Step 3: Submit your application

To be considered for this scholarship, applicants must submit all documentation required for an application to the PhD program at ACU, as detailed in the How to Apply instructions, plus:

• A CV outlining relevant academic and practical experience; and
• A cover letter detailing demonstrated interest and/or experience in the program of research described.

When completing the PhD application form, please indicate that you are also applying for a stipend scholarship and include the name of this project "Quantification of external load related to tactics and game style in elite Australian Football".