Gore Hill - ACL grave yard?

[saviour01]

First go there for me today. Agree with the post above. Better than old gore hill, worse than a grass field.

Asked one of their players "well it's better than mud". Lots of skin taken off, few ankle injuries and the ball definitely bounces different on it.

[The Culmination]

I thought you were there last week clubman?

Ive heard various reports, some positive some negative.

Positives: Better than Original Gore Hill. Wont get rained out. Concussions down.

Negatives: Burns from players above average than normal. Ankles injuries. Knee Injuries. After effect with aching muscles and joint.

Nothing compares to a ideal grass track, the impacts for clubs is one game a season however the true test will be how North Shore will feel after a full season on there. Will it impact them come the end of season.

[Clubman]

East Coast Eagles played at Gore Hill last week. Can they give feedback on the Ground.
Any thing to report or any Injuries on the day out of the games

[tara]

Totally agree there will be 2 grounds open being gore hill and kanebridge

Id add Rosedale to that list - UNSW and Mac Uni PD womens playing there tomorrow.

[5yearplan]

bit of rain fallen and normally by this time Norris Gore Hill closed, be interesting if this weekend brings up some interesting changes

[5yearplan]

Totally agree there will be 2 grounds open being gore hill and kanebridge

[Norris Lurker]

At some stage this year we'll have one of those weeks when there's several days of rain in a row and there's mass ground closures across Sydney. That's when we'll really see the benefit.

[bomber.]

Not crimped, ripplied et etc. It'd be the most even surface in Sydney.

[justabaraker]

I sneaked a look last week during a visit to the hospital - it looked a bit uneven to me - crimped perhaps.

Has anyone else noticed that or was I just high on hospital gasses ?

And how do they secure the playing surface to the soil underneath ?

[bomber.]

Bit of a storm in a tea cup at this stage re serious injuries.
There have been some scrapes and burns, but there would have been scrapes and scratches on the old deck too that would have gotten much worse as the season went on.
There have been about 30 senior games (mens and womens) played on the new surface now and the injury rate has actually been fairly low.
There have been a couple of knee injuries of varying severity. Never good, but it happens in our game and as mentioned above, the injuries that have occurred have been contact related (side on contact). It'd be a fair stretch to say they're related to the surface.
The curiosity about the surface is understandable, but other than when it's been hot, the feedback about it has been good. In hot weather the surface does get hot. That'll sometimes be an issue in March and early April. It's still playable though and other side of that equation is that it will give a much more stable deck when it rains - particularly compared to the old surface. Swings and roundabouts.
The Swans Academy 18's trained there last Thursday, in fairly hot conditions, and I understand the feedback about the ground was okay.
In the first 3 rounds of the AFL season (so 27 games) there were something like 13 serious knee injuries. I also recall Erin Phillips going down with one in the AFLW final. Those injuries occurred to the fittest players, who are specifically prepared to minimise knee injuries, on the best grounds. Gore Hill has gone a lot better in comparison, so maybe the AFL should change all their grounds over to artificial surfaces like Gore Hill!!
There are a hell of a lot of games played at Gore Hill now and given the nature of our game there will be injuries. Because the surface is new some people will connect the two, but so far it looks like the surface might actually reduce injury rates.

[Jupiter]

Massive hats off to Nth Shore for getting the development done! Time will tell on any surface issues (I trust them and the AFL are watching closely) but given the state of the ground and the site, not to mention the demand to use it, I think its a courageous innovation. Artificial or part artificial has to be a part of the answer in Sydney - Nth Shore are in the vanguard of this with Gore Hill.

[Pmcc2911]

There have been maybe 12 senior games so far this year (maybe similar number of junior games) not counting trials plus countless training sessions and to my knowledge there has been 1 ACL injury.
Anecdotally there has been a significant reduction in concussion injuries.
There has been a increase in “grass burns” and they are more noticeable than previous. There have been no reports of infections but it has been raised as a possibility and players have been told to be cautious.
Over all the players like the even consistent bounce and the even give of the surface when running.
Understand the AFL are/have commissioned research across the season with the players to get s better understanding of the outcomes.
Yes the ground is definitely hotter than grass but daytime temps have been hotter than normal anyway. Will have to wait and see how that changes as the ambient temperatures reduce.

[Norris Lurker]

The old Gore Hill was a disaster on that front, with the concrete cricket pitch and by the June long weekend you struggled to find a blade of grass. Not to mention the glue-pot at the northern goalsquare - I did a hammy there goal umpiring.
When you compare the surface to what was there before, it's an improvement. There's no way the old surface would have coped with 6 games & 4 training sessions every week, plus the juniors and everyone else who uses it.

[5yearplan]

Only a matter of time until a post came on this one.

We are at Round 3 and we are already making calls on this ground.

I think you really need to have it go for a season to make any calls.

The way North Shore has started again it is looking like it might be a graveyard to opposing teams.

North Shores injuries will be the litmus test as they will play on this most of the season.

There are plenty of grass grounds still and in the past which would of been way worse than the new ground at Gore Hill

[The Runner]

I saw one of the injuries last game there and it had nothing to do with the ground surface -- the Bomber got hit flush on the side of the knee. I've also heard nothing about "infected cuts" either, especially nothing from players who have played at least 3 games there not just trained like the academy.

Well that solves that. Case closed.