Recent warm weather in Sydney has been a groundskeeper’s dream and Accor Stadium head curator Graeme Logan believes the tip-top turf could even suit the Broncos' attacking brand of football in Sunday’s grand final.
With only three games being played at the venue since the FIFA Women’s World Cup final in August, Accor Stadium has never looked so good and Logan believes it could work well for the Queenslanders.
“Absolutely I think it could give them (Brisbane) the edge,” Logan told NRL.com.
“It’s going to be dry and hard so there’ll be a lot of ball movement and it’ll be a fast game.
“The players' confidence when they’re running, that they won’t be slipping, and can turn throw passes and have a good ground cover [should be helped].
“I think everyone else is concerned about the heat, but the guys from Brisbane particularly will be used to heat and humidity.
“This is a great grass coverage, it’s really thick, it’s low so it'll be hard and fast game for sure and one for the attackers.”
Road to the GF: Broncos
Having prepared the stadium for every NRL Grand Final since 1999 – besides the 2021 decider in Brisbane – Logan said he has never seen the Olympic Stadium turf look so good.
“Finishing the year, this is the best shape we’ve ever been in for a grand final, it’s as perfect as we can get it,” Logan said.
We work all year to end the season on a really good note and we’re really confident. Sounding a bit like Penrith aren’t we, but yeah, we’ve got it right.
Graeme Logan Accor Stadium Head Curator
“It’s been a good, dry year. We’ve had a good coverage of grass throughout the whole year and we’ve been able to keep that. We’ve had a good lead up and we haven’t been smashed up with too many wet weather games.
This article contains content that is only available on NRL.com
“We’ll cut it at about 1am on Sunday morning and mark outs should be done by 10.30am match day, ready to hand over so we can sit back and get out of the heat.”