I'm no green keeper but I can't remember seeing so many dodgy stadium surfaces before this year.
Bankwest Stadium is an ice rink. Watching players slip regularly is not good enough for a professional competition. Lots of divots and skid marks. Yet the stadium says the surface is fine. It most definitely is not.
But it's not only BankWest it's almost every stadium.
Has there been a new development in horticulture that everyone is using but is actually making things worse?
Player's boots appear the same, the weather is not unusual.
I feel the NRL needs to raise this with the Stadium owners. The NRL isn't meant to have players slipping and sliding every week.
Replies
If memory serves, the BW turf is a half live half artificial hybrid, which is the standard these days. Not sure if that is part of the problem.
Seeing the close up of the Mahoney 'no try' the grass looked quite long at bw - thought for the eels, shorter fast track would be best for us?! No thanks to the grounds keeper
I don't remember it either. Something is definitely up. It looks like some 'genius' has revolutionised the stadium turf industry. Trouble is the result is an oily, slippery mess. Time for some buffalo grass. That stuff takes skin off.
LOL ahhh the good old concrete backyard, whatta wog.
Haha concrete yard.....
I grew up with concrete and finished with tiny pebbles. Now that's a bloody wog.
Yep I've been mentioning this to mates for weeks now. It's not only the slipping but the turf has been copping a hiding one of late. Divets and turf displaced everywhere, can't be good for the players to run on.
You can definitely see it, especially with the new low camera angles these days.
It was very noticeable in the Cowboys game - the turf was cut up so hard and the game was only 25mins in. Something has changed with the turf not sure what's the go.
The playing surface in Townsville is atrocious! The Cowboys have only played 4 or 5 games there this season, they played at Suncorp when the comp resumed, and in every square metre there must be a dozen or more digits. At least Bankwest has had a massive number of games played there as an excuse but it is a like an ice rink once the sun goes down. It could be that the playing surfaces and not the rule changes that are the major factor in the NRL's high injury toll this year, or a combination of both.
They've probably engineered the new stadium turf to be all nice soft and cosy, environmentally friendly etc So the players are all 'touchy feely' so much so that they've actually stuffed it up. Nothing wrong with the old Cumberland oval. What's say we burn Westbank Stadium down and resurrect Cumberland Oval? Who wants to lead the charge?
" They've probably engineered the new stadium turf to be all nice soft and cosy, environmentally friendly etc"- I suspect this is exactly what has happened. The industry needs to be investigated as something is very amiss and the current thinking appears to be wrong.
It might be the dew suppressant they use mate, its oil based, certainly the older stuff was, its sprayed/applied to the leaf to make the dew not bind to it and run off.
That could be whats happening, would be interesting to look into.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next