Tragic - regarding Stephen Hill. My thoughts exactly. In regard to the bulking up, I think back to the Essendon supplements period under "the Weapon" when they suddenly all bulked up and then went through a spate of serious soft tissue injuries.
Looking at a range of sports - especially athletics - there seems to be very few endurance sports that promote bulk muscle mass, which seems universally restricted to burst and sprint events, where preparation and fatigue can be carefully controlled.
Even in American football, the big guys are burst players and subbed or rested frequently through rotations and breaks. Soccer players don't carry this muscle.
There may be no research, but anecdotally, it might be suggested that muscle bulk can become a potential liability over time in a sport like footy. I'd love to see some research in this area. Freo could provide a solid sample population for the initial study ...
