Hello Widnes fans!! Hopefully others too!

Since the outburst from Mathers and other players tweeting about how it ripped the skin right off of their legs, it would seem that all is quiet and players don't actually mind too much about the pitch?

Is this then the way forward for sports clubs and especially RL teams so to cut long term costs of relaying and maintaining the current standards in ever changing and challenging weather?

Has anyone at Widnes announced what actual savings have been made and whether or not the initial outlay is worth the investment long term? I doubt many clubs have that initial cost to put in to a pitch but if the savings are clear to see then it may entice other clubs to follow suit.

I'm not sure whether this is just coincidence, but on Boxing Day and Good Friday there seemed to be a lot more of the shredded tyre shrapnel stuff than last year, perhaps they have used it to soften the pitch up.

The problem when it was installed is it was a first for rugby (unless you listen to Saracens) so there wasn't a lot of data available to them. After a year of SL they were probably able to assess it and make improvements.

More likely however that Mathers just needs to man up and stop attention seeking!

It depends on how much it costs to maintain. Like any surface it will need repairing over time.

An Ipitch won't be installed at Leeds any time soon after just spending £1m on a new pitch last year.

Leigh's pitch is part aesthetic and seems to hold up brilliantly, especially considering the amount of use it gets.

It's a money spinner for the council and since Mathers graze, I cant recall too many other bleats. There are rumours its to be ripped up but as mentioned it is in use most nights and earns cash. St Maries who use the pitch don't seem to complaint about it

iPitches, hybrid pitches (lots of Premier League pitches are part synthetic), and just better-wearing grasses and heating technology has actually taken away *one* of ( though not all I should add) the arguments for summer rugby. Had we had the pitch technologies of today back then, I wonder if the switch would have happened? Sure, there were other arguments for the switch, but playing surfaces was a big point made by those favouring the switch.

(Back then I was in favour of summer rugby, ask me now, I'd be relaxed either way,not much in it)

Do you still have a footy team playing their reserves at the Stobart ?

yes but our own vikings fc plus a female footballteam play there

So not real teams then? You used to have Everton didnt you? The LSV get a good return from Blackburn, even in the Championship

Mathers is a whinger. Saw a women's football game on telly there the other day and didn't see them worrying about diving in for tackles or to score.

It's Liverpool women's team who play here. I went to watch Vikings FC here and BT Sport were getting ready for the broadcast and Ms Skelton, Richie Mylers lass walked right by us......very nice!

Everton reserves used to play down here

Thanks for the response. It would be interesting if Widnes will release the figures and if it does make a saving.

As said, it takes a lot of use and can be done in all weather. The principal is great and it seems issues have been ironed out.

I don't think Mathers was wrong in what he was highlighting at the time, it was a new thing that effected him personally and wanted to make sure that the issues were looked at. Without his outburst it is possible that extra rubber was not then put down and more injuries were incurred.

Technology is advancing so quick these days I'm waiting for the day we're watching the game being played on a memory foam mattress!!!!

Although no one can argue with your comments on playing surfaces, the move to summer rugby was purely about our major sponsor needing some decent, regular, weekend sport to show on their TV stations.

Any news on injuries that have occured on the Ipitch when compared to grass? Personally I wouldn't know where to start as there are the ones that occur on the day or long term use (I know a lot is made of dodgy knees from footballers who played on the astroturfs at Oldham, Preston, QPR) anyone heard of or know of anything.

I remember a few mumblings from players about the pitch being tough on the knee joints.

we lost two players to knee injuries at the back end of last season at widnes,

Is it cheaper, than grass?????

How much is grass costing now days?

they reckon it was £125k a couple of years ago to relay wembley but then they relay it a few times every year. not sure how the £1M figure for Leeds was worked out as Old trafford's was quoted at £500k this year. done by Desso, a Dutch firm.

I think the price difference depends upon what they are actually doing. i.e. a relay of turf on an existing base layer is going to be cheaper than removing all the existing tuft & base and effectively starting again from scratch, which is what is needed in some cases.

Leeds' involved a complete removal and replacement of the original undersoil heating and drainage system, which is where the vast majority of the £1m bill came from.

Are they putting a swimming pool in too?


Or have they gone to the wrong kind of dealer for Grass???