“A disgrace”: Whateley slams SCG turf

Nicholas Quinlan • June 28th, 2025 4:16 pm

SEN’s Gerard Whateley has called the surface at the Sydney Cricket Ground “a disgrace” following Friday night’s match between the Western Bulldogs and Sydney Swans.

The Bulldogs ended up winning the match by nine points but the main talking point from the match was the surface.

There were countless examples throughout the match of players slipping over due to the surface particularly as the game went on with SEN’s Andy Maher calling the turf “horrible” during the AFL Nation broadcast of the match.

Image: Channel 7

The reason for why the surface has been so bad recently has been partially put down to a Andrea Bocelli which took place on the 3rd of April with the stage set at the Paddington End of the SCG.

Speaking on the surface, Whateley believes that this was one of the rare instances that the ground was unfit to play on.

“The turf at the SCG at the Paddington End is a disgrace” Whateley declared on SEN’s Crunch Time.

“It’s very rare that you see a ground unfit for play, but that was last night.

“Probably not since the early days of Marvel have, we had a surface that was so ill-equipped and so untrustworthy.

“It impacted the game, absolutely. It had everyone just crossing their fingers by the end that no one would get injured.

“If someone gets injured then we are in the rubber stop in the middle of VFL Park territory when (Shaun) Rehn did his knee.”

It’s not the first time this season that the SCG surface has been called into question.

After Sydney’s win against Carlton in Round 10, the SCG turf was slammed by Western Bulldogs great Brad Johnson.

However, there would be no rainfall last night to help contribute to the slippery surface.

Reaction to the turf was thick and fast on social media with AFL Nation commentator John Donohoe saying even Accor Stadium when it was used as an AFL venue had a better surface.

The surface was also mentioned during both Channel 7’s and Fox Footy’s broadcasts.

7’s Daisy Thomas called the surface “dangerous” after watching the replay of Western Bulldogs’ defender Bailey Williams having his foot caught in the ground during the third quarter.

While on Fox Footy Jonathan Brown compared the surface to the initial days at what is now Marvel Stadium which caused plenty of headaches during the early 2000s.

“Are you allowed to play on this surface?” Brown asked.

“This is as bad as I’ve seen in years. I remember playing early on the Colonial Stadium surface and that was a sandpit, but this is shocking.”

The next game played at the SCG will be next week when the Sydney Swans play Fremantle at the venue on Sunday afternoon.

The ground will need to pass an inspection before the game goes ahead to ensure that it is safe to play an AFL match.