A SPORTS science expert wants the AFL's annual injury survey to present more sophisticated data on when injuries occur, as superstar Patrick Dangerfield calls for fixturing changes.

Griffith University lecturer Steven Duhig, who worked with Gold Coast's academy players for three years and consulted on injury prevention for the senior side, has undertaken world-first research on the AFL.

Injury reporting is typically a season-by-season breakdown, as with the AFL injury survey, but Duhig has instead provided a month-by-month comparison between 2010 and 2018.

The period covered in each of those years is from the JLT Community Series through to the AFL Grand Final.

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Duhig was handcuffed by a lack of injury data and stressed that meant firm conclusions could not be made, but saw enough in his findings to believe the AFL should investigate further.

He gathered injury statistics from footywire.com, which compiled data from sites including AFL.com.au, then broke them into 'non-contact' and specific injuries, such as to the knee, hamstring or shoulder.

Duhig's information showed injuries spiked at the start and end of seasons, with a significant dip in the middle rounds.

There are various theories, from the pre-season being too long, player intensity being higher at the start of seasons, and clubs booking footballers in for surgery when they can't make finals.

"I'm not sure why injuries are lower mid-season," Duhig told AFL.com.au.

"Perhaps the focus has shifted from pre-season, where you try to get bigger, stronger, faster and have a bigger tank (aerobic ability), to more of a recovery phase between games.

"You could also argue that maybe they weren't ready for round one, so there are a few reasons you might see that (mid-season) trough."

Duhig's research follows Geelong champion and AFL Players' Association president Dangerfield's request for a review into the length of the season and matches in response to injuries.

"Twenty-two games I see as too many … but the length of the game is a conversation piece that (also) needs to be had," Dangerfield told SEN radio.

"It's not about robbing fans of the 120 minutes of footy they get every week at the moment. What's robbing the fans … is (they're) not getting to see the best players, because of injury.

"And I think it is linked back into length of season, length of games and just the demands players are put under."

Duhig was reluctant to have a viewpoint on Dangerfield's link between injuries and game and season length based on his research findings.

"It's open to interpretation, but it's interesting and worthwhile to have it laid out in that (month-by-month) format," he said.

"It means we can all see the data rather than relying on hearsay like, 'There are heaps of injuries and they're increasing'.

"It would be nice to see something like this as part of the AFL injury report, then broken down even further into what point in the game these injuries occur – that'd be unbelievable data.

"The Champion Data guys would be all over it. It'd be a heap of work, but it's doable and would again put the AFL at the forefront of injury reporting and sports science in identifying injuries."

Duhig, who investigated hamstring strains for his PhD, still works in strength and conditioning for leading swimming coach Michael Bohl, whose squad is based at Griffith University.