Kevin Brown’s IMG concerns after ‘unprofessional’ Wakefield pitch situation

One story has been dominating discussions recently and that has been around the Wakefield pitch.

As the club does exciting redevelopment work on the stadium, they have put together a new turf which is a mixture of grass and a synthetic surface.

However, after their Round One clash with Wakefield Trinity, Catalans Dragons boss Steve McNamara slammed the pitch and what it did to his players.

His players were also outspoken about it and all of this led to a pitch inspection prior to Wakefield’s clash with Huddersfield Giants tomorrow which put the game in doubt.

Speaking about the situation, former Huddersfield man Kevin Brown said it was a bad look for the sport with IMG coming in to re-imagine things.

“It’s frustrating. I think at a time when IMG are coming in and you want everything professional, you get a bit of scandal before the season with players and then you get a field that’s not fit for purpose in round three. What are we doing as a sport?” Brown said on the 5 Live Rugby League Podcast.

“We’ve got to get that right, if you’re paying for a field it’s got to be right. I don’t know the situation but I know it’s a bit of a hybrid field, but when you lay a field in England at this time of year surely you know what you’re going to get.

“I’ve played at clubs like Huddersfield where you have to play so many games away but that wasn’t a reactionary thing. You know as a groundsman or as a club the state that your field is going to look like. I just can’t believe at this stage of the season already we’re thinking about cancelling games.”