Rate My Professor Daniel Ferris

Dr. Daniel Ferris is a Lecturer in Exercise and Sport Science at the University of New England. He holds a Bachelor of Sport Science (Honours) from Bond University and a Doctor of Philosophy in Health Science from Griffith University, completed in 2025. With over 15 years as a high-performance sport coach, researcher, and educator, Ferris has served in leadership roles as Head of Physical Performance for National Rugby League teams, including the Canterbury Bulldogs, Manly Sea Eagles, and Gold Coast Titans. He is skilled in athlete performance assessment, recovery methods, and strength program design, drawing from extensive practical experience in elite sport.

Ferris's research focuses on biochemical indices of training and competition in elite contact sport athletes, spanning sports performance, youth development, programming, monitoring, adaptation, and recovery. His interests include muscle damage, inflammation, player load, and athlete development. He lectures in units such as Advanced Exercise Physiology (EXSC340), Monitoring of Sport Performance, and Introduction to Exercise and Sport Science (EXSC120) in the School of Science and Technology. Ferris has obtained significant funding, including $450,000 for Sport Science in Rugby League from the New South Wales Rugby League Centre of Excellence (2024) and $105,000 for optimizing youth athletic performance and injury prevention from Presbyterian Ladies’ College Armidale (2024). Key publications include "Impact of New Rule Changes on Australian Professional Rugby League Match-Play and Wellbeing Statistics—Implications for Training-Program Design" (Journal of Athletic Enhancement, 2024), "Basal Markers of Inflammation, Muscle Damage, and Performance during Five Weeks of Pre-Season Training in Elite Youth Rugby League Players" (Journal of Athletic Enhancement, 2018), "Training load—injury paradox: is greater preseason participation associated with lower in-season injury risk in elite rugby league players?" (British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2017), and "Creatine kinase and neuromuscular indices of fatigue following elite rugby league match-play" (2011). He has contributed to numerous peer-reviewed publications.