Clint Gutherson cops backlash over James Tedesco kick amid uproar over $828 million NRL farce

Parramatta captain Clint Gutherson has savaged the state of the water-logged Allianz Stadium pitch after branding it "one of the worst" fields he's ever played on. Gutherson was lucky not to be sin-binned inside the first 15 minutes for a kick on Roosters opposite James Tedesco, as his Eels went down 38-14 in a chaotic NRL showdown highlighted by diabolical conditions caused by heavy rain across Sydney.

The massive downpour hit during Manly's 24-10 win over the Warriors in the earlier match, but unlike the Sea Eagles' home ground at 4 Pines Park, Allianz Stadium simply couldn't cope with the deluge. And for a state-of-the-art stadium that cost $828 million to rebuild it left fans, commentators and players scratching their heads as to how the drainage situation at the ground was so bad.

Players were slipping and sliding through massive puddles throughout the game, with ground staff seen trying to manually create drainage by digging a pitchfork into the ground at halftime. It was the Roosters that dealt better with the atrocious conditions though, with winger Dom Young scoring a hat-trick before being given an early mark to ice his hamstring, as the Tri Colours cemented third spot on the ladder.

Allianz Stadium slammed in $828 million truth bomb

Gutherson pulled no punches when asked to give his thoughts about the playing surface after the game. “It was one of the worst fields I’ve played on for a while, especially with the fields these days as they’re normally pretty quick and I didn’t think it rained that much,” Gutherson said.

“It was hard to play in but there’s no excuse for letting some of those tries in. We didn’t know it was that bad until we got out there and your feet was fully underwater. I don’t know what they can do about it, probably not much." Roosters captain Tedesco agreed that the state of the pitch was "pretty crazy" to try and play footy on.

“When we got here two hours before the game the field was looking great and then we got a bit of a downpour there and it was soaking wet," Tedesco said. “It sort of got drier as the game went on but in the middle (of the field) there wasn’t much bounce and it was pretty slippery. It was tough conditions but it was fun aas well.”

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Fox League presenter Yvonne Sampson and NRL great Corey Parker were scathing of the situation though, and said it was an indictment that a stadium which cost $828 million to rebuild could have such alarming drainage issues. “This is a state of the art stadium... Brookvale didn’t look like that,” Sampson said in reference to Manly's home ground. Parker added: “It’s certainly not the conditions that you would expect at a stadium like that after so much money was spent. I understand there was a fair downpour, but it looks diabolical. In forty minutes, that has not gone away whatsoever.”

Conditions improved slightly in the second half but there were still large puddles in various patches across the playing surface. And the backlash across the league world was brutal. “Should an $830m stadium, which is just two years old, hold such field water?” The Daily Telegraph's league reporter Dean Ritchie posted on social media.

Eels made to pay for sin bins as Clint Gutherson put on report

While the Roosters coped with the conditions better on the night, they were helped with two sin bins for the Eels that led to four of their seven tries on the night. Parramatta first lost Wiremu Greig to the sin bin after the prop's shoulder made contact with Connor Watson's head in the first half and then had to contend without Brendan Hands after he gave away a professional foul for holding down in the tackle just after the break.

"The second one I thought was a bit harsh with (Hands holding) Brandon (Smith) under the posts," said Parramatta interim coach Trent Barrett. But when we turned the ball over in the fashion that we turned it over, giving them field position, they're a good side and they made the most of it."

The Eels were perhaps fortunate that Gutherson was not sin-binned as well after appearing to kick Tedesco in the head midway in the opening 15 minutes. Tedesco slid in to defuse an attacking kick from Parramatta near his own tryline and caught the footy before Gutherson followed through with his foot and seemed to catch the Roosters No.1 in the face. Gutherson was put on report but escaped with just a fine on Saturday, despite many fans fuming at the time that he didn't go to the bin.

with AAP