Counselling athletes with poor anger-based aggression and violence management skills.

This article focuses on the management of anger-based aggression and violence in team contact sports athletes, using a violent incident from the 2014 rugby league Super League Grand Final as a case study. It distinguishes between sanctioned aggression, which is permitted physical contact within the rules of the sport, and unsanctioned violence, which falls outside these norms and often results from anger, power, or thrill motivations. The article outlines cognitive-behavioral intervention strategies sport psychologists can employ to help athletes recognize triggers, manage anger, and reframe aggressive impulses to improve individual and team performance. A real-life example involving motivational interviewing and cognitive restructuring with a soccer player illustrates how tailored psychological approaches can reduce unsanctioned aggression and enhance athlete engagement. The proposed interventions, while grounded in rugby league, may be applicable to other contact sports facing similar challenges with athlete aggression.