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The silver lining to Suncorp's pitch debacle

21st January, 2015
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Socceroos player Mark Bresciano would be best to steer clear of the A-League. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Expert
21st January, 2015
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On Thursday night, the Socceroos will play China on a pitch in Brisbane that is undeserving of an Asian Cup quarter final. It’s a scenario that should never again be repeated in this country.

Players, coaches, officials, and even members of the media, are sick of talking about the quality of the surface at Suncorp Stadium rather than the intricacies of what goes on above it.

But on the day of the Asian Cup’s last hurrah in the Sunshine State, it’s worth one last ponder.

For a tournament many thought would be unappealing in the midst of all the other summer sporting distractions, the Asian Cup has been a resounding success. Brisbane Stadium, as it is officially known thanks to the AFC’s unrivalled commercial pedantry, has been perhaps the only real negative.

Admittedly, the patchy turf didn’t stop the likes of Omar Abdulrahman and Keisuke Honda from turning in virtuoso performances at the Milton venue. And aside from the Jordan-Iraq contest, there has been nary a snorefest to be seen in Brisbane.

But the reputation of arguably the best rectangular stadium in Australia has taken a significant hit over the past 12 days. In turn, Brisbane has been portrayed as some sort of sporting backwater that can’t even get the grass to grow right.

For A-League fans, this is nothing new. While Suncorp was once voted the best pitch in the competition twice in a row – the latter award coming mere weeks after it and half of the city was covered in floodwater in early 2011 – it simply hasn’t been good enough since.

As more and more teams at least attempt to start playing possession football, it’s an increasingly significant issue, and one that needs to be fully grasped by stadium operators.

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Suncorp ground staff have attempted to come up with an explanation. Apparently the summer couch grass hasn’t ‘come back in’ quickly enough to replace the winter rye grass, and that this unexpected development doomed the surface for the Asian Cup.

Maybe on this occasion the seasonal switch from one to the other didn’t happen fast enough, but hearing excuses that hinge on different types of grass is about as fun as actually watching them grow. Particuarly when you’ve heard them before.

Not good enough. It’s the same old story. Even though clubs like Brisbane Roar pay through the nose every year for use of venues that would otherwise be collecting cobwebs, football never seems to get value for money.

In December, soon-to-be Triple J Hottest 100 winner Taylor Swift will play a concert at Suncorp Stadium. It won’t help the pitch one iota, and the Roar will quietly suffer for weeks afterwards.

Yet it always seems to be in pristine condition for the first NRL match of the year. Never mind that the round-ball game is actually played on the deck, Sam Thaiday needs a carpet to ram someone into.

To their credit, Suncorp Stadium officials have copped their whack, sitting in on the press conferences where Asian Cup coaches, players and journalists have mercilessly ridiculed their work in front of them. It can’t have been easy.

People in China might not know much about Brisbane, but millions of them will know now that Alain Perrin thinks it’s a terrible place to play football and that there’s moths everywhere.

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Not a good look, is it? If there is a silver lining to this debacle, it’s that the international embarrassment caused will act as a cautionary tale for those who look after stadiums in Australia.

Offer up crap pitches, wear the stinging criticism. Offer up something worthy, and everyone gets a pat on the back. It’s surely not that hard.

Thursday night’s game should still be a belter. But it should be better. It’s time ground staff finally started holding up their end of the bargain.

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