West Coast’s Tom Barrass and Fremantle’s Jaeger O’Meara’s concerns over Optus Stadium turf

The sight of players slipping over at Optus Stadium has been common since Perth’s 60,000-seat stadium opened, and West Coast defender Tom Barrass has had enough — speaking out about a surface he says has “never been in reasonable nick”.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 08: Tom Barrass of the Eagles handballs during the round 13 AFL match between West Coast Eagles and North Melbourne Kangaroos at Optus Stadium, on June 08, 2024, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

West Coast defender Tom Barrass has slammed the Optus Stadium playing surface declaring it has “never ever been in reasonable nick” as question marks grow over the standard of the grass at Perth’s 60,000 capacity stadium.

The sight of players losing their feet at Optus this season has been a common one and continued in Fremantle’s 20 point win over Gold Coast on the weekend.

Asked if a slippery surface was a good thing for him heading into Sunday’s clash against Hawthorn Barrass said: “Slippery is probably not good for me I would say no. Is that is what is being said about Optus? That it is especially slippery?”

“I must admit it is not the greatest deck and whatever the reason is Optus hasn’t managed to curate that ground appropriately, and we as players can at least say we are really excited for the day that deck is nice and clean,” he said. “I don’t know if it is overuse in the off-season or just before the season, but it has never ever been in reasonable nick so hopefully that will change soon.”

Tom Barrass says the surface at Optus Stadium has never been up to scratch. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images.

Barrass said the stadium had not been able to find the balance between being soft enough yet stable enough. The stadium surface had been widely criticised for being too hard on opening for its first AFL games in 2018 but it now looks chopped up and unstable.

“That is the issue – it is trying to find the balance,” he said. “It is too hard and then you soften it up and then it gets muddy. I don’t know – I am not a lawn professional but it hasn’t worked and I know that people are working hard behind the scenes to get it going and like I said I am excited for the day when it is a nice, pristine, MCG type deck.”

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said he hoped the surface would improve.

“It’s less than ideal. It’s a slippery surface. I think the surface is inconsistent with where the new grass is laid versus the old grass. The stadium said they’re doing all they can to get it up and going. The colder weather will help the rye grass spread and get us a better surface hopefully in two weeks.,” Longmuir said.

Docker Jaeger O’Meara was more measured than Barrass in his view of the surface but did confirm some concerns after his team’s win over the Suns saw players regularly slipping over.

“It is just a bit inconsistent to be honest. Some parts of the ground are in really good condition and others not so much. We are not using it as an excuse – both teams have to play on the same ground so there is no advantage to either side. That is all I will say about it,” he said on SEN.

Optus Stadium management released a statement this week after growing criticism on the surface and the inability of players to keep their feet.

The statement claimed that an AFL assessment of the surface on May 10 this year had rated the surface as “good” for presentation, turf coverage, surface levels, surface hardness, traction and stability and irrigation.

Tim Kelly of the Eagles slips while kicking the ball in 2022. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images/

The highest standard possible is “very good”.

The statement said the AFL had reported that “the surface at Optus Stadium is in good condition with the majority of the surface in very good condition” and that the “sections of wear are still within the preferred range, however there is some aesthetic appearance issues with mature Rye grass from last year persisting as the couch grass enters dormancy”

But the Optus Stadium statement did go on to say that while the AFL assessment provided reassurance “we acknowledge that the turf is nor performing at the level we had hoped at this stage of the year.”

“Each year there is always a bit of a challenge transitioning from the summer grass to the winter grass. This year the growth of the winter Rye Grass that we rely on for the football surface was impacted by the long, warm and dry autumn meaning it hasn’t had time to germinate as well as we would have liked.”

“The Rye Grass is now much more established and approaching the coverage required and we are confident that the turf conditions will improve as winter continues,” the statement said.

Originally published as West Coast’s Tom Barrass and Fremantle’s Jaeger O’Meara’s concerns over Optus Stadium turf