Rugby League shorts of today are very similar to running shorts in athletics. Particularly those worn by longer distance runners such as 800m, 1500m, 3000m and the marathon or cross country. This is due to the endurance nature of the sport where very high levels of fitness are needed and therefore clothing needs to be as nonrestrictive as possible.
There is however a balance of durability that is also needed as the sport is a very physical contact sport and clothing is regularly grabbed and used to tackle a player. This poses the difficult problem of making a very lightweight, breathable, cooling (as the sport is played in very hot conditions often) garment that is also extremely strong and can take very big, strong young men pulling at them with their considerable strength.
To meet these demanding specifications a blend of synthetic materials such as nylon and polyester are used allowing for a very thin fabric to be used that is also very strong.
Another issue with Rugby League Shorts is that they must not absorb very much water as when it rains traditional cotton shorts can become very heavy. This is another benefit of synthetic materials as they don't absorb water.
Rugby League shorts are also very short and small to limit the restriction of movement and make them more difficult to grab. They have an elastic waist band but with a strong string to tie them firmly to the waist to avoid them being pulled down in tackles.
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