Something that i have not seen anyone mention is the way our pitch handled the weather conditions.

They were about as bad as it can get with three days of rain including torrential rain in the last 24 hours.

Despite that the playing surface played almost like a dry pitch.

Im sure many fans will have expected a mud bath, but what we saw was players leaving the field after 80 minutes with jerseys as white as the minute they first put their kit on in the changing rooms.

There were no pools of standing water, nor areas of slutch, it was all a sea of lush green from minute 1 to minute 80.

When players hit the ground they didnt aquaplane for 10 metres, infact it was almost as if the pitch was dry.

The only thing that told you the pitch was wet was that the ball tended to stand up quicker when it hit the deck.


I think this all helped ensure that the RL on show was of a higher standard than is normally the case in such conditions. At Knowsley road it will have been a low scoring slogathon. With players just sticking it up the jumper and relying on kicks to create trys.

We need an iPitch

Turf looked really lush last night, certainly extra length on it & hadnt been cut in last few days. As good as a pitch can get given the inclement weather.

In one of his early interviews after the stadium had been built McManus spoke about the extra expenditure on the pitch to make it rain worthy so that is possibly why nobody was surprised at its condition.

I have not heard the word "slutch" for ages. Such a graphic terms that you can almost smell it!

The pitch was and should be in great condition. It's only been played on about a dozen times and we paid a fair amount for it.

The one thing I did notice was the wavey lines. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but it was noted by others too. Is this because the paint was applied late and the rain has washed it?

Maybe we should extend the pitch into the concourses, problem solved.

Thought the pitch would cut up during the match, must be one if not the best pitch in superleague.

Blobby its been played on a lot more than a dozen times.

Remember the team also train on the pitch and the academy and under 20's also play on the pitch. We have also seen a soccer match and amateur and junior RL matches played on the pitch this season.

Good observation Chair. I don't think it's a stretch to say that we've had one of, if not the, best pitches in the competition for nearly twenty years.

There we go pitch tastic