On fridays game against Wire, I've never seen the old girl looking so worn out, can the pitch handle both Leeds teams running up and down her? Along the touchline in front of the Southstand, it looked like we were playing in the Sahara Desert. The union side must have gone kicking for touch crazy, having another line out every 5 seconds.

Interestingly, when the Superbowl was on, the pitch they used had some lush artificial turf, that doesn't give you a carpet burn when you get snapped in half by a 335lb meat head. Is this long lasting artificial stuff the way forward?

This is what the new Southstand is going to look like...

Grass doesn't grow very well in the winter. End of thread really?

How about the artificial turf debate?

Been done to death about Widnes' pitch, we will see after a seasons use on that whether it is feasible or not. I've played on a 3g pitch with the little rubber beads or whatever they are and can confirm you do get pretty bad carpet burn. The technology behind it is improving though, maybe in a couple of years time, but as it stands nothing beats real turf.

come back in four weeks

hopefully the new southstand will not make the pitch as narrow as that !

Sorry, I'm washing my hair then You have never seen the old girl look so worn out?where were you this time last year?
Newbie ?say na more

LOL Ive been going to Leeds games since the mid 90's (Iestyn Harris era) But now that Im working in Scotland, it unfortunately means that I can't get to see as many games as I like. When I went to Old Trafford for the weekend just to watch the final, it was a 796.8 mile (16 hours) round trip. Just out of interest anyone beat me distance wise for this game? Cost me fricken lots for petrol and hotels and beer.

I think Ive only managed 7 games in the past 6 months, usually when I happened to be in the area or on special occasions. Including the grand final against Saints, WCC against Manly, Wigan away, Huddersfield away, cas away, fridays game. As I'm still on leave, i'll still be "down south in England" to go to the Salford game, then its back up the high road to the far corner of Scotland, to fight off the wild mountain haggis.

Re synthetic pitches in NFL, they wear tights, like all the time. And more padding and protective gear than riot police.

3g pitches are fine to fall on, but a bit strange to slide on, in my experience. I've only played football on them. Widnes' pitch will be a good test for the technology's applications in RL. If it proves successful over the next couple of years then we might see more of them. I'm assuming low maintenance costs outweigh the (presumably) higher initial outlay.

normally takes more than that to amuse me on a Monday morning.

My back lawn looks awful this time of year too, it doesn't have a game of professional rugby played on it every weekend but it does have a big dog using it as a toilet a couple of times a day, I really should get out there and clear it all up any time soon.

Swap the dog for a horse and not only do you not have to clean up, but you get the lawn fertilised for free.

That's one of my "Top Tips". Here's another one, use sand instead of sugar. Not only does it have zero calories but it sinls to the bottom of the cup and you can re-use it