‘Looked like Mumbai out there’: SCG turf under fire again as Cats coach spotted in pre-game act

The SCG surface is again under fire, but this time for a “rock-hard centre wicket” which “looked like Mumbai”, according to Geelong coach Chris Scott.

The dual premiership coach was shown pre-game examining the turf, ahead of his side’s 43-point win over Sydney, shaking his head in apparent frustration.

It is a different part of the ground to the one which caused controversy earlier in the season, when the Paddington End was unstable and slippery, causing players to fall over during games.

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That problem was blamed on a pre-season Andrea Bocelli concert held at the SCG whereas this issue is related to the ground’s decision not to use a drop-in pitch for cricket purposes.

“The actual surface looks beautiful. The rye grass is quite soft,” Scott explained.

“I know there’s been a lot of rain up here, but it’s the contrast between the quite soft area outside the centre square and then pretty rock-hard centre wicket area that’s just not conducive to AFL football. And so the strange part with so much rain is that it’s covered all the time, and you’ve got this baked, you know, it looked like (a) Mumbai (cricket pitch) out there.

“So that’s, again, that’s for them to work through. But I mean, my position would be, if you think that’s optimal for AFL football, you don’t understand what’s optimal for AFL football.

“But again, not my concern really. Well, it was my concern today, but I wouldn’t read too much into my body language, if there was someone filming me and I didn’t know.

“Well, I guess it’s my chance to explain it – I wasn’t that worried. It was exactly what we expected. We rocked up here yesterday and the centre wicket’s covered.

“Not sure there’s having there’s much point having a training session the day before when the pitch is covered. It’s pretty much the reason we’re here.”