NRL Magic Round fears emerge over state of Suncorp Stadium turf
The state of affairs has led to concerns around player safety for the NRL's Magic Round in Brisbane.
Magic Round is in danger of turning into Tragic Round. The atrocious state of the Suncorp Stadium surface is causing the NRL massive headaches three weeks out from one of the game's marquee events.
Players have been ripping large chunks out of the ground all season and you have to wonder how the hell it will hold up with eight games scheduled across three days of Magic Round. To make matters worse, rain is predicted on 13 of the 16 days leading into the first game.
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Can you imagine what the ground will look like by the time Parramatta plays Gold Coast in the last of those eight games. It could resemble the surface of Mars.
Imagine, too, the fallout if a Nicho Hynes or a Nathan Cleary or a Latrell Mitchell was to do a knee on a piece of loose turf. There's been talk of moving Magic Round to a later date, shifting the event to another venue or at least moving some of the fixtures elsewhere to ease the workload on Suncorp.
None of that will happen. It's too late. Tickets have been sold, flights paid for and accommodation booked.
The NRL can't and won't inconvenience thousands of fans with a last-minute change of plan. They also won’t risk being embarrassed by the AFL, which is talking up the success of its Gather Round in Adelaide.
Concerns for Suncorp Stadium turf ahead of Magic Round
An independent turf specialist has been called in to run his eye over Suncorp Stadium in the hope of coming up with a solution and ensuring the ground is in good nick by early May.
To this untrained eye, he will need to be some sort of miracle worker. But Suncorp Stadium general manager Alan Graham insists all will be right on the night.
"We're pretty confident it’s going to be okay," he told 4BC. "We just haven't had a chance since we laid the new turf, to do what you’d normally do, which is to aerate the field.
"The important part to remember is a lot of what's happening is the actual glass just shearing off, it’s not a stability issue. We've had that shearing because of the amount of traffic it's had and some of the atrocious weather we've had.
"From a safety point of view and a playability point of view, it’s fine."
Suncorp has been heavily used of late, with two NRL teams, the Super Rugby Reds and A-League's Brisbane Roar all in action.
Time will tell whether the busy workload has proven too much for what is considered one of Australia's premier sporting venues.
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