Synthetic Grass Fields

[The Saint]

Morning All,

After another week of atrocious weather that lead to many game being called off - except for ours at Pioneers thanks to the council. How far are Sydney AFL from an all-weather ground??

I say this because a colleague of mine plays soccer in the Shire and played over the weekend at a fully synthetic field. He says the shire now has two fully syntho fields. Granted one was built at Endeavor High makes it harder.

Yes, i know the initial costs would be high, but wouldn't in the long run Sydney AFL be better off if we can move several matches to an all-weather ground?? Or do we just keep rolling with the weather gods punches??

Could AFL be played on a all-weather ground?? There are the obvious injury concerns if the grounds are too hard. The colleague of mine played in his regular boots and found it fine.

Thoughts???

The Saint

[Norris Lurker]

May be worth looking into. I'm not sure how the synthetic turf would feel to land on after a tackle or attempted speckie or whether you'd need different boots; but it may be worth trialling on a training ground somewhere.
There's a synthetic soccer ground at Blacktown ISP - I'll go and have a look at it when I've got a chance.

It's certainly lateral thinking by The Saint. But just maybe it could be an answer to our ground issue.

[Pekay]

May be worth looking into. I'm not sure how the synthetic turf would feel to land on after a tackle or attempted speckie or whether you'd need different boots; but it may be worth trialling on a training ground somewhere.
There's a synthetic soccer ground at Blacktown ISP - I'll go and have a look at it when I've got a chance.

It's certainly lateral thinking by The Saint. But just maybe it could be an answer to our ground issue.

We are lucky to have an all weather ground at Bensons that was in fantastic condition on Saturday morning, with three games on it from 10am Saturday, it stood up to the traffic and weather and was in great nick even yesterday. After our recent race day, we should have a club house up there and with the ground to hopefully be re-configured to
hopefully bring it to spec with our main ground (165 v 132) it will serve us well in the future, no turf pitch to worry about either.

[nicko18]

Morning All,

After another week of atrocious weather that lead to many game being called off - except for ours at Pioneers thanks to the council. How far are Sydney AFL from an all-weather ground??

I say this because a colleague of mine plays soccer in the Shire and played over the weekend at a fully synthetic field. He says the shire now has two fully syntho fields. Granted one was built at Endeavor High makes it harder.

Yes, i know the initial costs would be high, but wouldn't in the long run Sydney AFL be better off if we can move several matches to an all-weather ground?? Or do we just keep rolling with the weather gods punches??

Could AFL be played on a all-weather ground?? There are the obvious injury concerns if the grounds are too hard. The colleague of mine played in his regular boots and found it fine.

Thoughts???

The Saint

Yeah these are in widespread use in the USA, especially in the Northern states where they can go for several months with snow, sleet and rain. The technology is advancing all the time to the point they mimic real turf, you don't get the grass burns you used to which was the main issue with them. I'm actually not sure if they do require different boots, i'll have to ask. Good point!

Economically, I can't see it happening in NSW to be honest. You can achieve very good results by having good drainage which is far cheaper, and getting cheaper all the time. You don't play in the mud baths that used to happen in the 80's. I think Victoria might be the fore-runners in the artificial turf technology, both with their increased demand for footy fields and also worse weather.

[BeeEmmAre]

The simplest solution is for NSW metro and coastal councils to pull their heads out of their ........ sand and leave the grounds open in all conditions. Like the rest of Australia. Turf recovers, it has done since the dawn of time.

[snow leopard]

my opinion stupid idea
We have an all weather ground in Henson
Did anyone see it last Monday Queens birthday weekend
The goal umpires had a river going through there legs when signalling a goal
Keep it simple play in any weather its good for you
Todays society produces too many softies

[mountainsofpain]

The simplest solution is for NSW metro and coastal councils to pull their heads out of their ........ sand and leave the grounds open in all conditions. Like the rest of Australia. Turf recovers, it has done since the dawn of time.

This.