The viability of a rockfall protection structure is vital for the hazard mitigation of habitations and infrastructures. This article investigates the feasibility and potential of inverse analysis applied to data collected on on-site rockfall protection structures exposed to real events. As an application case, a rockfall protection wall made from interconnected concrete blocks which are piled up in a zig-zag pattern is considered. The numerical model of this structure is created via the use of a Non-Smooth Contact Dynamics (NSCD) method-based modelling technique. The NSCD model is developed using the Siconos software and spatiotemporally calibrated from two real-scale impact experiments with 520kJ and 1020kJ projectile energy. This model is used to investigate the variability in wall mechanical response against different impact conditions. The simulation results served as input data for developing the inverse analysis method. As a first application, it is proposed to use the inverse analysis to aid in remote decision-making shortly after an event, based on real-time measurements. Then, the use of inverse analysis to retrieve the impact condition characteristics (energy, location) from data collected after the event is addressed. The proposed approach appeared efficient for back-analysing (i.e., output to input) data related to the wall response for being used as a warning based on its displacement with respect to the protected element at risk and damage to the wall with root mean square errors (RMSE) of 16 cm and 82 kJ respectively and for a rockfall site survey with RMSE of 71 kJ energy transferred to the wall and position of impact with 37 cm.