Carlton star Sam Docherty has slammed the ‘slippery’ MCG turf after a $1million rescue job following an Ed Sheeran concert…and revealed he was ‘too nervous’ to play on it
- Sam Docherty slaps the slippery MCG turf
- Tom Stewart was injured on the surface
- Docherty said she was very nervous
Carlton veteran Sam Docherty revealed he had serious concerns about the state of the MCG’s ‘slippery’ playing surface before seeing two Geelong players go down with knee injuries.
All-Australian defender Tom Stewart is set to play on the sidelines with suspected medial ligament damage after slipping on the famous venue’s turf on Friday night in Collingwood.
Cats teammate Sam De Koning suffered a similar knee injury but returned to action.
Docherty, who missed the 2018 and 2019 seasons with ACL ruptures, played at the MCG in Thursday night’s season opener between the Blues and Richmond.
The 145-game defender said a pre-match inspection of the playing surface – around half of which was relaid this month following two Ed Sheeran concerts – had left him worried.
Carlton veteran Sam Docherty has revealed he has serious concerns about the state of the MCG’s ‘slippery’ playing surface before two Geelong players went down with knee injuries
All-Australian defender Tom Stewart is set to play on the sidelines with a suspected medial ligament injury after slipping on the popular venue on Friday night in Collingwood.
‘I was very nervous when I went out there before the game and saw the differences in the turf – things that have been there for a long time and then the newly relaid things,’ Docherty told 3AW on Saturday.
‘I was surprised that there wasn’t any damage to our game and watching last night was probably what I was hoping for.
‘There is a fairly significant difference between the two turfs.
‘The newly relaid stuff is a bit stiff but it moves when you get over it, the grass spits out a bit.
‘Then the old MCG turf, they put a lot of water in for the new grass to sit on, it’s really soft.
‘So it certainly presented some level of danger in my eyes and the MCG took that punt.’
Geelong coach Chris Scott was not impressed with the $1million turf job, saying the MCG had scored an ‘own goal’ with its management of the playing surface.
Fellow coaches Damien Hardwick, Michael Voss, Simon Goodwin and Luke Beveridge did not bring up any turf issues when asked about it after their matches.
Sam Docherty’s pre-match inspection of the playing surface – almost half of which has been relaid this month following two Ed Sheeran concerts – left him worried.
Geelong coach Chris Scott is not impressed with the $1million turf job, saying the MCG has scored an ‘own goal’ in its management of the playing surface
Ahead of the season opener, MCC chief executive Stuart Fox hit back at criticism of the venue operator’s management of the playing surface, which emerged during the build-up to the first round.
‘I’m absolutely delighted,’ Fox told SEN on Thursday.
‘We finished on Saturday night (March 12) and our turf team is really working on refining (the ground) now.
‘When you look now, not a blade of grass is out of place.’
