Shabby SCG turf

[barry]

Mudbaths are gone because the AFL executives have performance incentives based on 'growth of the game' which they can fudge by avoiding low drawing/low viewership 'mudbaths'. At poorly drained suburban grounds who have just had the 4ths, 3rds, and 2nds play on them.

[Blood Fever]

I stood at the old Brunswick St oval for many years in rain, hail and snow (well, maybe not snow) watching the Royboys getting belted.

Those guys would be laughing at the complaints floating around about the condition of the SCG.

I appreciate the need to reduce the risk of injury, but playing on a perfect surface has taken some of the wet weather skills right out of the game.

How many current players have even seen a muddy field, let alone played on one?

Old guy yelling at clouds here, but I still cherish the memory of seeing Darrel Baldock playing in mud up to his knees, and displaying skills that took your breath away. He was the best wet weather player I ever saw, maybe even the best player I've ever seen.

Rant over.

Saw games with my dad at Brunswick Street. Clear memory of mud heap both there and elsewhere, especially Glenferrie Oval. All grounds had Merri Creek soil in the middle for the cricket pitches. Very sticky. Lake oval absorbed rain much better because of sandy soil close to the bay. Our teams weren't much chop and one of the few things we could boast about was how good our surface was!

[neilfws]

SCG surface 'unsafe' after player suffers horror injury from pitch https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/...1bly.html?btis

Here's how it looked at the Adelaide game. It's certainly "patchwork" - very noticeable across the centre, O'Reilly wing and interchange area. Also around the goals and some isolated squares in the 50s.

I don't know if you can necessarily tell anything from that - didn't seem to cause any issues on the night - but there it is, anyway.

[barry]

You would have thought the SCG trust would have got with the 21st century and had a drop in cricket pitch this year, knowing full well the winter workload the ground would have to take.

[Nico]

I stood at the old Brunswick St oval for many years in rain, hail and snow (well, maybe not snow) watching the Royboys getting belted.

Those guys would be laughing at the complaints floating around about the condition of the SCG.

I appreciate the need to reduce the risk of injury, but playing on a perfect surface has taken some of the wet weather skills right out of the game.

How many current players have even seen a muddy field, let alone played on one?

Old guy yelling at clouds here, but I still cherish the memory of seeing Darrel Baldock playing in mud up to his knees, and displaying skills that took your breath away. He was the best wet weather player I ever saw, maybe even the best player I've ever seen.

Rant over.

I too recall the Brunswick St Oval. From memory it had its own special odour.
The mud was also quite sticky.

[Markwebbos]

A soccer pitch needs to flat like a snooker table as the ball should spend a fair bit of time rolling over it. So I can imagine a pitch being OK for AFL but not for A-League. I also think they like the grass shorter for soccer than AFL. If the surface is dangerously uneven, as suggested, then no one should be playing on it. I wonder if the ANZ-Olympic stadium is free on Thursday night?

[KSAS]

AFL says no chance game this Thursday night will be moved away from the SCG. Club has requested the SCG trust for drop in cricket pitches. Wayne Carey said SCG surface looked OK last week and reckons people are making too much of playing surfaces these days when it's a bit out, compared to his playing days.

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[wolftone57]

AFL says no chance game this Thursday night will be moved away from the SCG. Club has requested the SCG trust for drop in cricket pitches. Wayne Carey said SCG surface looked OK last week and reckons people are making too much of playing surfaces these days when it's a bit out, compared to his playing days.

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I tend to agree with him. If players are going to cry like babies everytime the sod is a bit churned up and wet they might as well be playing soccer with all the other nambie pambies

Sent from my ANE-LX2J using Tapatalk

[barry]

AFL says no chance game this Thursday night will be moved away from the SCG. Club has requested the SCG trust for drop in cricket pitches. Wayne Carey said SCG surface looked OK last week and reckons people are making too much of playing surfaces these days when it's a bit out, compared to his playing days.

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I like Wayne Carey's comments. He's not influenced by the general "group-speak" of whatever everyone else is saying.

Either that, or he's an AFL stooge.

[Beerman]

Longmire apparently described the pitch area as "hard and slippery", which I think is pretty accurate based on my kick to kick experience. I think that's more of an issue for aussie rules than a few divots.

It's not ideal, but it's what we've got and so unless the SCG agree to change it (and I have no problems with the club asking them to), then I think we just get on with it.

[The Big Cat]

Unless these rectangular-ground sports are going to attract 25,000+ why are they even at the SCG? There must be rectangular grounds in Sydney that will hold this sort of crowd without chewing up the surface at a quarter-full SCG.

[MattW]

Unless these rectangular-ground sports are going to attract 25,000+ why are they even at the SCG? There must be rectangular grounds in Sydney that will hold this sort of crowd without chewing up the surface at a quarter-full SCG.

Yep.

[neilfws]

There must be rectangular grounds in Sydney that will hold this sort of crowd without chewing up the surface at a quarter-full SCG.

I can see at least 5 rectangular grounds in the 20K capacity range in this list.

Availability and leasing arrangements is a separate question, but they certainly exist.

[ugg]

It’s to do with location. It’s the only stadium close enough to the CBD/Eastern Suburbs