AFL clubs are going to unusual lengths to adapt to slippery conditions amid growing concerns over the standard of football that will be possible during finals matches in Queensland.
Dew on the ground at night time in the Sunshine State has caused plenty of issues for players this year, resulting in below-average skills and games that are difficult to watch.
It presents a headache for the AFL leading into a finals series set to be played predominantly in Queensland, including a night grand final at the Gabba on October 24.
“The game’s different,” West Coast coach Adam Simpson said after his side’s scrappy win over North Melbourne at Metricon Stadium on Thursday night.
“You’re not going to see pretty footy, it doesn’t matter who you are.”
Collingwood have reportedly used baby oil on footballs at training and Simpson admitted West Coast have resorted to dipping them in soapy water.
But the method appears to have been in vain so far, with the Eagles’ poor ball control a major factor in them going scoreless for the entire first quarter against North Melbourne.
It was the first time this century they had failed to trouble the scorers by quarter-time and the game never rose to any great heights.
“We started the game tonight thinking that we’d have a go at using the whole ground and trying to play our way,” Simpson said.
“We learnt real quick … but sometimes it’s dry.
“Tonight it wasn’t, so we thought we overused the ball a little bit and so did North.
“But that’s just the way night games here are going to be.”
North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw, whose side won’t be part of the finals series, said he couldn’t “shy away” from concerns over the conditions in Queensland after being based there for more than two months.
“It was really slippery out there tonight and the boys said it was really wet in the last quarter,” Shaw said.
“It actually felt like it had rained.
“It’s going to be interesting but we actually played out here a couple of weeks ago and it was dry, so who knows.”
Six of the current top eight clubs will play ‘home’ finals in Queensland this year because of various COVID-19 restrictions.
The majority of those matches – if not all of them – will be played at night.