Garry Lyon believes the process to deem the MCG fit to host matches across Round 1 was “the greatest act of tokenism in world sport”.
Debate erupted over the weekend on the MCG surface following comments from Geelong coach Chris Scott, which came after two of his players suffered non-contact knee injuries.
That’s despite two independent turf inspections ticking off on the surface across the last week.
But the Melbourne great suggested the process was little more than an orchestrated “charade”.
“Take what the players said aside… the ground inspection is the greatest lip service in world sport,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“The AFL’s ground inspection is the greatest act of tokenism and box-ticking in world sport.
“Let’s go through the scenario… (the turf was laid less than two weeks before Round 1) ao in what world, in what universe, in what fantasy was anyone going to walk out onto the MCG last week and say, ‘listen, Gil, bad news. I know you’ve got it scheduled for 88,000 on Thursday, 86,000 on Friday, 50,000 on Saturday and another 60,000 on Sunday. But guess what, we’re not playing here’.
“In what fantasy is that ever happening? Don’t go through the charade of saying, ‘oh yeah, we’ve ticked off on the grass’.”
Tom Stewart will miss up to a month with a knee injury, while Sam De Koning has been cleared to play in Round 2. The duo were the only possible turf-related injuries in four games at the home of footy.
But Lyon pointed to concerns from Carlton star Sam Docherty as to why it’s a worthy discussion.
“It’s not (a non-issue) for Sam Docherty, who’s had two ACLs. I was at the ground, he was walking that ground at 4:30pm… then he came out and said he was concerned about it,” he continued.
“It might be good and well for the blokes in the suits to say the grass is magnificent. You’re not playing on it.”
Docherty said he was “extremely nervous” to play on the ‘G’s surface and also claimed there was a “fairly significant difference” between the old and new turf.
Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield also noted, “there were areas of inconsistency”.
🗣 "Was it like a normal deck, no it wasn't"
— 7AFL (@7AFL) March 18, 2023
Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield talks about his experience playing on the fresh MCG turf last night against the Pies pic.twitter.com/rWIDphvy3J
Meanwhile, Cats coach Scott appeared to question the MCC’s move to host two Ed Sheeran concerts so close to the AFL season.
He claimed they kicked an “own goal” by compromising the surface, a suggestion SEN Breakfast co-host Tim Watson believes has some merit.
“When you line it up like he did… well it sort of makes sense, doesn’t it? Why would you compromise the playing surface and then AFL football season in any way so that you can have a concert then,” Watson added.
“The time to have a concert is some other time of the year when you’re not going to compromise the AFL season.”
The two Ed Sheeran concerts attracted over 200,000 patrons combined and gave the MCC less than a fortnight to get the MCG prepared.
Numerous other grounds underwent turf renovations in recent weeks, yet there were no other complaints from the weekend.
The MCG will play host to two clashes this weekend, starting with Carlton hosting Geelong on Thursday night.