The AFL Players’ Association has reiterated its stance on AFL venues containing cricket wicket tables, declaring the time for action to be taken before a player gets seriously injured on a rock-hard surface is now.

With Occupational Health and Safety a pillar of the AFLPA’s doctrine, the Association remains deeply concerned at the impasse over the issue, and has urged key stakeholders to continue to work together to find a satisfactory solution.

Currently three AFL venues – the Gabba, SCG and Manuka Oval – have cricket wickets year-round, and the AFLPA’s General Manager – Operations, Matt Finnis, said change was needed sooner rather than later in light of the competition’s impending expansion in the northern states.

“At the Gabba, with the number of games that are played there, and the fact that the centre wicket area continues to be a problem, a significant structural reform is required,”Finnis said. “It used to be the case that there were difficulties with being able to get the infrastructure required for drop-in wickets in and out of the stadium, by virtue of the stadium design. That is no longer an issue (since the re-development)."

“It clearly now comes down to a commercial decision and a philosophical decision as to the surface at that venue. The desirability of a drop-in wicket for cricket players, and concerns they might have around bounce and how good a wicket that is, that’s a legitimate issue, but we say that is an issue as to performance."

“The issue about playing football up to 11 times a year, if not more as we go into expansion (of the competition), on a wicket in the state that it is, that doesn’t go to performance, that goes to safety, and we have the very strong view that safety must take precedence over performance.”

The AFLPA holds much greater concerns for the state of the Gabba and Canberra’s Manuka Oval than the SCG, with hardness readings at those grounds being significantly higher than at the Sydney stadium.

Finnis agreed that the solution – drop-in wickets for the cricket season – is expensive, but that “they’re serious concerns that go to the heart of the enterprise that is the AFL”.

He was also dismissive of the argument surrounding the use of the Gabba, with the stadium being used for 40 days of cricket and no more than a dozen for football.

“We say that’s mischievous and it’s misleading when you consider the commercial reality of the situation and the fact that how many of those days of cricket are watched by 500 people, compared to 25,000 people turning up at the Gabba to watch an AFL match,” Finnis explained.

“There’s going to be more football played at the Gabba in the future, so now is the time to be investing in ensuring that that surface is fit for the purpose of playing AFL, because at the moment we’re concerned that it just might not be.”

“The players at Brisbane recognise that those responsible for getting the surface prepared week in, week out are doing the best job that they can with what they’ve got to work with,” he said. “It’s a structural problem, and at the end of the day it shouldn’t be required that those who are trying to get the stadium (surface) up each week are dealing with the resources that they’ve got to work with.

“The issue of the Gabba surface stands out as being a blight on otherwise a very good environment for the playing of football across the country.”

While the bigger matter of drop-in wickets bubbles away, the AFLPA, in the interim, continues to explore a range of options to minimise the risk to players, including relocation of curtain-raisers to allow the best possible preparation of the ground for the main game, and umpires throwing the ball up in the centre instead of bouncing it so ruckmen can enjoy a consistency of height.

Finnis also promised the Association, over the off-season, would be reviewing the suitability of the AFL’s ground hardness guidelines, which presently have two ‘pass-marks’ – ideal and acceptable. The Gabba sits right on the edge of acceptable, with the Lions now taking their own readings – independent of the stadium – to stay abreast of the situation.

On the subject of the picturesque Manuka Oval, Finnis said they were equally as committed.

“If the AFL is keen to keep taking games to Canberra, and the ACT Government is keen to keep hosting AFL games, then it needs to ensure the stadium at which those games are played meets those requirements of safety for the players,” he said. “Manuka is also a concern, but it doesn’t receive the traffic that the Gabba does.”

In other surface matters, the AFLPA sees a simple solution to the situation at ANZ Stadium, where the roll-in grandstands on both wings have caused unstable areas for some AFL matches. This has predominantly happened after State-of-Origin rugby league games have been played at the ground mid-week, with a quick turnaround before an AFL clash.

“Smarter fixturing to ensure (AFL) games played there occur with a clear window of ground preparation in the build-up to each game, which can ensure the surface is in the best possible condition,” Finnis said. “And again, that’s a stadium that potentially is going to have more AFL played at it over the next few years.”

To complete the focus on playing surfaces, Finnis said the Association had committed to lending its support to improving the quality of grounds used for the second tier competitions around the country, with nearly 40 per cent of AFL-listed players using them on a weekly basis.

“We note the difficulties, particularly with water restrictions and the resources which are available to state league teams are obviously less than the major stadiums, but what we’d like to do is work more closely with the state leagues to see how we can ensure that the playing conditions for state level competitions are as close as possible to the expectations that we have for the AFL,” he said.

“A priority issue for the AFLPA over the next couple of years is to consider what we do to ensure that there’s a base standard of OH&S in relation to the second tier facilities where up to half of our members are playing each week.”

Finnis concluded that the AFLPA was delighted with venues such as the Telstra Dome, with the investment that stadium management has made in research and development being highlighted by the quality and strength of the turf at the ground in 2008.

“And venues like Aurora Stadium are just magnificent examples of playing surfaces which can be created with the right kind of balance of how the facility is used,” he said.