en_force_er
Geoff Shaw (53)
Uni's pitch isn't bad when it's wet, it's bad when it's in between dry and wet when the mud becomes this weird cakey stuff akin to what they line playgrounds with at McDonalds.
VRU 2014
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elementfreak
Trevor Allan (34)
Wet weather - Souths, it stays pretty good underfoot and because of the sand base it just drains away.
Dry weather - Probably Quins, however if they have had rain there in the week leading up to the game then the bottom corner is pretty shit.
elementfreak
Trevor Allan (34)
They moved all their games to the 2nd field at Melbourne so the Rebels could play on it.
T
Train Without a Station
Guest
Don't they both have cricket pitches still?
I know in 2012 the pitch on the Orrong Road side did and the other pitch certainly has one too.
I know in 2012 the pitch on the Orrong Road side did and the other pitch certainly has one too.
elementfreak
Trevor Allan (34)
It does, however the issue was the patches of grass next to the cricket pitch.
KevinO
Geoff Shaw (53)
Doing a team run just before kick off should be allowed.
Can't speak for Box Hill as they are not in 4th grade, but Melbourne, Uni and Quins fields are all in really bad condition. Both Melbourne and Uni where using the seconds pitches on Match day as they where in better condition than the 1st graders pitches.
Powerhouses grounds (Minnus a few small spots where people walking their dogs) where actually in really good condition this late in the season. Just need the new club house to be built soon. Than again they had less games at home this year with the early start to the season and the weather in June was better than usual.
pablo
Darby Loudon (17)
Power House's grounds are hit and miss..Big problem with Albert Park is that it is a wind tunnel, and there are no change rooms there!! The grounds can be really good in patches, but are regularly in a state of repair and rarely have the chance to catch up from the GP.
The VRU did schedule the majority of their Rd1 games as away at one stage to factor in the GP, but it was deemed too nice a run in home with 6 or 7 home games in a row.
Clubs with junior programs are always going to struggle, lots of kids on not so many fields.
T
Train Without a Station
Guest
Powerhouse without a doubt has the best actual field of all teams. Unfortunately as noted there's not bloody clubhouse or change rooms which is a massive joke.
Footscray, Souths, Box Hill and Moorabin seem to have decent set ups though the grounds can be quite barren and sandy. Endeavour Hills is similar but struggles to have any living grass from memory.
The Uni pitch is good unless there is a lot of rain which really affects the cricket pitch and like most AFL grounds, can be a bit of a danger when it dries.
Melbourne's is a fucking joke. All the money in the world and they can't get a ground without a slab of concrete up the guts.
Quins has a nice number 1 field but you shouldn't be able to play rugby with that synthetic cricket pitch in the middle of the second ground.
Footscray, Souths, Box Hill and Moorabin seem to have decent set ups though the grounds can be quite barren and sandy. Endeavour Hills is similar but struggles to have any living grass from memory.
The Uni pitch is good unless there is a lot of rain which really affects the cricket pitch and like most AFL grounds, can be a bit of a danger when it dries.
Melbourne's is a fucking joke. All the money in the world and they can't get a ground without a slab of concrete up the guts.
Quins has a nice number 1 field but you shouldn't be able to play rugby with that synthetic cricket pitch in the middle of the second ground.
Axemen
Allen Oxlade (6)
Footscray is one of the most unsafe grounds in the competition - that centre square is either rock hard or a tar pit and the shifting ground elsewhere is shocking. I have seen more players injure ACL's at that field than any other in Melbourne.
The cricket pitches at Quins and Melbourne, if you want to have a close look actually have a rubber mating placed over the top of them to provide protection. The safety issue is the level of the grass on the sides of the pitch - councils have deemed these safer than the old sand pits we had growing up. You will want to get used to it, as a club sooner or later is going to get an artificial surface pitch which will be very similar to how the cricket pitches are. They are becoming more and more common in NZ and I know 2-3 clubs are looking at it with their councils with the Rebels support to give them an all weather training base. Ideally there shouldn't be cricket pitches, but it is a reality everywhere in Australia when it comes to fields. Quins are trying to talk their council to rip theirs up and Melbourne are mooted to possibly move to Como Park as they want to turn Oorong into a massive Netball Centre - at Como they can fit 3 fields (2 turf pitches present).
Best consistent playing surface is easily Souths. Why - it is sand based, flat and they don't train on it because no lights on the main fields. Word is they are getting lights soon on these pitches so their quality will probably drop with the training workload.
Moorabbin surface is now pretty good - probably the best grass coverage, they just need to get the ground level and fix their parking.
Uni - pitch is very rough, word is the Grid Iron team that trains there has destroyed certain areas and parking a nightmare
Box Hill - #1 is OK, dries very quickly as explained but #2 shocking due to training load - #3 Archery field is usually good quality but so far from everything. Issue is, what happens if a massive storm hits the day prior or the morning of the GF? Happened to the Pacific Cup a couple of years ago and it had to get cancelled. End of the day GF should be a Box Hill as the spectator hill is great for crowd viewing.
The cricket pitches at Quins and Melbourne, if you want to have a close look actually have a rubber mating placed over the top of them to provide protection. The safety issue is the level of the grass on the sides of the pitch - councils have deemed these safer than the old sand pits we had growing up. You will want to get used to it, as a club sooner or later is going to get an artificial surface pitch which will be very similar to how the cricket pitches are. They are becoming more and more common in NZ and I know 2-3 clubs are looking at it with their councils with the Rebels support to give them an all weather training base. Ideally there shouldn't be cricket pitches, but it is a reality everywhere in Australia when it comes to fields. Quins are trying to talk their council to rip theirs up and Melbourne are mooted to possibly move to Como Park as they want to turn Oorong into a massive Netball Centre - at Como they can fit 3 fields (2 turf pitches present).
Best consistent playing surface is easily Souths. Why - it is sand based, flat and they don't train on it because no lights on the main fields. Word is they are getting lights soon on these pitches so their quality will probably drop with the training workload.
Moorabbin surface is now pretty good - probably the best grass coverage, they just need to get the ground level and fix their parking.
Uni - pitch is very rough, word is the Grid Iron team that trains there has destroyed certain areas and parking a nightmare
Box Hill - #1 is OK, dries very quickly as explained but #2 shocking due to training load - #3 Archery field is usually good quality but so far from everything. Issue is, what happens if a massive storm hits the day prior or the morning of the GF? Happened to the Pacific Cup a couple of years ago and it had to get cancelled. End of the day GF should be a Box Hill as the spectator hill is great for crowd viewing.
Axemen
Allen Oxlade (6)
I forgot House - place is lifeless, field quality varies based on the damage the Grand Prix does - no changerooms, no facilities, parking a pain and in general has no atmosphere.
Melbourne - prefer their old field as it has some atmosphere about it, new field too open. Facilities also lacking and parking is the worse in the competition. Cricket pitches a major issue - and that new scoreboard is such a waste of money.
QUINS - facilities good and they are all close to the fields, they finally got that car park sealed which makes a difference. Any rain and it does become boggy as clay based fields, #2 has the cricket pitch which needs to go.
End Hills - main pitch got extra drainage this year which will put it in good stead for next year - could be the best playing surface next year. Other pitches are average and isolated from main field and not enough changerooms but generally a pretty good setup
Melbourne - prefer their old field as it has some atmosphere about it, new field too open. Facilities also lacking and parking is the worse in the competition. Cricket pitches a major issue - and that new scoreboard is such a waste of money.
QUINS - facilities good and they are all close to the fields, they finally got that car park sealed which makes a difference. Any rain and it does become boggy as clay based fields, #2 has the cricket pitch which needs to go.
End Hills - main pitch got extra drainage this year which will put it in good stead for next year - could be the best playing surface next year. Other pitches are average and isolated from main field and not enough changerooms but generally a pretty good setup
pablo
Darby Loudon (17)
Did anyone see the game on the weekend?? The article and comments suggest questionable decisions.
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/dewar-shield-box-hill-thriller-melbourne/
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/dewar-shield-box-hill-thriller-melbourne/
Highlander35
Steve Williams (59)
Thursday 6pm we get a replay on C31. Decide for yourself!
en_force_er
Geoff Shaw (53)
People are idiots about close finals games, the ref was fine.
Honestly the rucks were a clusterfuck with Melbourne players going off their feet to win space past the ball every ruck and BH players using hands-in-the-ruck to turn it over when they could.
To suggest the game was biased is just being a keyboard warrior. The BH (and Rebels) 9 Ben Meehan probably didn't deserve to be sent off but Melbourne were targeting him (some of it was questionable but they never crossed the line) and he reacted. Professionals need to be better than that.
I certainly think to call what went on 'punching' is a stretch, it barely ticked the box of 'jumper punching' in the AFL sense of the word.
My (brief) match report: Melbourne looked well structured, Box Hill looked like they could score 1st phase from anywhere. Box Hill dominated the first half thoroughly with some great 1st phase magic and a creative short kicking game, Melbourne did well but didn't convert the pressure consistently. 2nd half, Melbourne slowly got back into the game through good structure and pressure but it was always Box Hill's game to lose. They drew even, BH got a penalty they probably had coming, and Melbourne lost. DONE.
pablo
Darby Loudon (17)
Thanks, perspective with 2 eyes.
We need this all year, not just finals!
Highlander35
Steve Williams (59)
A Game of the Round would indeed be excellent.
Surely there's enough Media/Television/Sports Journalism based courses in Melbourne that you could get the VRU/Rebels/Clubs to partner with one of them.
Surely there's enough Media/Television/Sports Journalism based courses in Melbourne that you could get the VRU/Rebels/Clubs to partner with one of them.
T
Train Without a Station
Guest
Didn't they show the "game of the round" last year? They certainly showed something, I'm sure of it because I played in the game.
en_force_er
Geoff Shaw (53)
My pleasure, I don't think the ref did a good job but I think the fact that half the comments are claiming he was biased BH's way and the other half are claiming the opposite shows there's not too much to take from it.
Axemen
Allen Oxlade (6)
ARU put a big chunk of the funding in for it last year - they wouldn't give it this year so VRU/Rebels couldn't afford it. As with everything, it all comes down to money.
pablo
Darby Loudon (17)
We all hope that the referee never has the say in a game, funny how people only see one side of the story!
Looks like we get the worthy decider this weekend - 1v2 - head to head this year is a win each and a draw. The fairytale would be ideal writing, Box Hill from last in 2013 to Premiers in 2014 but I think it might be Quins for back to back wins.
pablo
Darby Loudon (17)
Always comes to money. Approach a Uni/TAFE and talk to their media studies or journalism schools, could be a good way in to form a long term partnership.
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