The sport is the most physically demanding of all team games, requiring top performers to cover up to three kilometres in the pool during the one hour it takes to complete a game. This exertion is quite apart from the physical contact, both above and below the surface of the water that players must endure. Despite this, the sport is almost totally devoid of injury from personal contact and generally speaking is played in the spirit demanded by the stringent rules.

While the general public view water polo as a tough sport, this is not generally the case in top-class play. However, water polo players do command a respect reserved for few other athletes. The typical player is tall, well built, powerful, and possessed of outstanding endurance, mainly because of the swimming in each match.

A modified form of the game called Flippa Ball has taken off across Australia, allowing children under 10 years to engage in regular participation otherwise not possible in the past. This can only encourage more youngsters to take up the sport -- even it it's another branch of their swimming.