I don`t know how much artificial pitches have changed since the `80s when there were a few in the wendyball league but if they haven`t improved the players have my sympathy this morning. I played on Oldham Athletic`s plastic pitch many moons ago, to counter the high bounce the pitch was sanded and sliding on it was tantamount to sliding on sandpaper. My knees, elbows and the palms off my hands were sore for days afterwards and took about 3 weeks to heal properly. Also in those days many Oldham players suffered knee & ankle joint injuries, which they put down to lack of give in the pitch. If things haven`t improved since those days then far from being to Widnes` advantage I can see it being somewhat of a handicap, at least we won`t have to worry about it for the rest of this season, barring a CC game.

We seemed to pick up a few injuries last night, they said before the game that dead legs could be caused by the pitch

Biggest issue for me seemed that players appeared to be very unsure of their footing at times ? will be interesting to see the reaction if some of the so called "star" players from the top 4 clubs start picking up injuries on that surface.Looks to have potential for serious ligament damage was my first impression.Hope this is not the case and players get used to it as season goes on,same pitch for both sides and obviously Widnes will have a lot more confidence in the surface than away teams on the first visit.Be interesting to see reactions as season progresses.Above all else though well done Wakey,great start and lets keep thhe momentum going !!

I’m glad we’ve got this one out of the way, it’ll be interesting when some of the ‘Big Boys’ go to town complaining of similar grazing. Although looking at the number of high shots, I bet there’s one or two with facial damage, never mind cut knees.

When the players were trying to turn and go in the opposite direction, it almost looked like slow motion. It was noticeable for their first try when Mathers turned to knock the ball dead, the disallowed Winterstein try when Isaac John turned to try and reach the ball and also the disallowed try when Ah Van held our player back. All players involved looked like they had to fully stop before turning and running again.

On the subject of grazed knees and elbows, players are going to have to wear skins or under armour. Either that or Vaseline up like Jim Leighton!

Awful surfaces to play on!

In all the years I've played sport I've played on that kind of surface only once. I grazed/burned my knee and ankle and it ended up with getting a severe infection and my ankle swelling to the size of a tennis ball!!

I've played hundreds and hundreds of times on grass pitches, both hard in winter and summer and never had anything like, so I don't buy into the argument of getting similar cuts and grazes on grass pitches aswell.

Just happy it's out of the way for us and a great performance and very positive start to the season!!

Let's see what the young lads think of it after they play on today, there's lots of banter between some of them and the senior guys on what to wear

Mathers just put some pics on Twitter and it shows his legs are a right mess! This pitch just doesn’t look safe. The appropriate authorities should do a full investigation of the effects on the players that played. If it’s deemed not safe then it should go!

Seen them and they look pretty bad
But prob not as bad as Tommy Coyles broken leg he got playing for widnes academy this afty on the same pitch which meant the game had to be abandoned after 46 mins

Think the RFL will be taking a second look at this pitch if there are any further complaints/incidents

First off I agree that if these types of injuries I've seen of Mathers occur consistently throughout the season and the cause stems from the ipitch then it should go and Widnes should hold there hands up to a bad decision made.

But until then the facts that some people forget are:
-it was -4degrees last night, if the ipitch was grass the game would have been called off
-Mathers looked bloody but its not like super league players never get burns off of grass as well
-that was the very first game
-its top of the range with a cost of £500,000 and so there is no way you can compare it to fake pitches of the 80's

You can scrutinise the pitch all you want but at least one more game is needed in reasonable temperatures; I too want it gone if it keeps doing this. Until then it could still well be a pioneering development for rugby league!

Come on chaps there may be a few genuine questions with burns etc (though one or more players?).

But some stuff being blamed on the pitch us barmy! Slowing players turning speed... I mean really? Pitch looked superp and is a great fast surface. Bounce seems softer if anything is all but as said it's a rugby ball and rain / ice etc can change it anyway.

whether the Ipitch has any contribution to Tommy Coyles broken leg it will not be known unless they have some close up camera action but it will now be on all players minds about the footwear they should be using.

broken legs can happen even on grass ask Chev Walker, but the cuts and grazes are going to be a continuing issue not more so for the opposition but for the home side Widnes that will have to endure 13 plus games on there as well as the training

Lot of players from both teams at tonights game with cut knees too so it's not just the ipitch that does it.

The one good point I did see from it was the game was played at a speed you don't normally see until the summer months.