Play on: Bankwest turf cleared for blockbuster after Roosters injuries

The playing surface at Bankwest Stadium has been cleared to host its 10th game in 21 days with Saturday's Eels-Raiders match going ahead as scheduled.

The stadium's pitch was independently assessed on Saturday morning following  two potentially season-ending ACL ruptures to rising Roosters duo Victor Radley and Sam Verrills, prompting a verbal complaint over the venue's pitch from club trainers on Friday night.

The sight of the pair going down without any contact from any other players in Friday's Roosters-Dragons clash has raised concerns over Bankwest's surface holding up under heavy traffic.

Following a formal inspection on Saturday morning, which was attended by an RLPA delegate, NRL head of football Graham Annesley said the pitch was found to be in 'surprisingly good condition'.

“The independent analysis during today’s inspection showed the surface is stable and all testing is within the normal ranges,” Annesley said.

“It concluded that the ground was in ‘surprisingly good condition’ and falls ‘within all measured criteria’. It also found that the ‘surface levels and stability are still very good’.”

RLPA chief executive Clint Newton added that the players union endorsed the assessment process and the decision for Saturday's Eels-Raiders clash to go ahead as scheduled.

“The views of the independent turf consultant, and the thorough process that has been undertaken, provide us with a level of comfort ahead of tonight’s fixture at the ground," Newtown said.

COVID-19 protocols since the NRL's resumption has seen the venue scheduled to host 11 games in 22 games by the end of the weekend, with WestsTigers slated to host Canterbury at Bankwest on Sunday, having moved the clash from Campbelltown to allow more fans to attend.

The NRL had Bankwest independently assessed in the lead-up to Friday's game, and acting CEO Andrew Abdo reiterated that fixtures will be moved if there is any risk posed by a playing surface.

Thursday's Panthers-Rabbitohs clash was shifted from Campbelltown Stadium to Kogarah due to concerns over the venue's playing surface after several more games than usual were played at the ground.

Roosters trainers complained about the "stickiness" of the turf to the NRL ground manager in the wake of the Radley and Verrills injuries, but at this stage no official complaint has been lodged.

Club officials, including football operations manager and former referee Chris James, were spotted inspecting the pitch two hours after fulltime, pointing out where Radley and Verrills went down.

Bankwest Stadium staff took to the field soon after to re-sew various patches of turf.

The Dragons also lost Jacob Host in their warm-up to a hamstring injury, but the club stressed they did not believe this hard anything to do with the playing surface.

Roosters coach Trent Robinson was reluctant to fuel any flames of discontent on Friday night.

Asked if he felt the surface had contributed to the injuries of Radley and Verrills, Robinson said: "I've got no idea. That's not for me to judge.

"I only found out after the game someone said we made a formal complaint, which is complete nonsense.

"In the warm-up there was [talk of the ground being sticky].

"To be honest, I don't care. I'm not an expert on that stuff. I've just had two guys do an ACL. It's not up to me to make an assessment on the ground. Someone else can do that.

"If they think they need to [assess it] because two guys have had [ACLs] then they'll do it. Other than that I'll get on with coaching the team."