Not to relitigate matters, but if memory serves my argument was that it was possible that the newly laid surfaces at Cockburn and Optus might have contributed to our wretched run with soft tissue injuries. I think Shane thought I was a luddite because I questioned the veracity of the most sacred of soil compaction tools, the penetrometer.
We all know he’s been in the pocket of Big Agritools since way back.
I’d note that when West Coast moved to Lathlain they also suffered a wretched run of soft tissue injuries. It’s probably a coincidence. I’m just asking questions!
But yes, the Optus turf is reminiscent of Docklands in the early 2000s, and it looks like the parquet of the Boston Garden. I makes me wonder how long it takes players to adjust from the very consistent lawn bowls green at Cockburn to the very uneven Optus turf. I took a tour of Optus Stadium once, and they said that the two wings have completely different climatic conditions. It seemed a bit overdramatic, but once I heard that, it’s actually really noticeable.
Commentators were talking about Ed Langdon only playing on the Shane Warne stand wing of the MCG. The theory was that he didn’t need to be interchanged, so he stayed on the far wing. I wonder whether we should keep Sharp running on the Northern wing where it’s drier and keep a mudder like Brayshaw or Aish on the Southern wing?
And no, I’m not reading into this way too much.
