League: Size does matter, say Aussies

By PETER JESSUP

The measuring wheel is out at English football pitches as Tri-Nations organisers try to satisfy an Australian demand for information on the size of all grounds to be used for the rest of the series.

Following the shrinking of the North Harbour Stadium ground to accommodate the Kiwis' desire to play it in the middle and rob the Aussies of their speed advantage, the Australian Rugby League contacted the ERL with the message they were not going to be conned again.

Yesterday they found that the field at Loftus Rd Stadium where the Kiwis and Kangaroos play round two this weekend will be only 94m long and a maximum of 66m wide.

The 17,000-capacity stadium, home to Queens Park Rangers, does not meet international rules requirement for a minimum 6m in-goal, nor for keeping the playing turf to 100m.

The in-goal will be the minimum 6m, and the 6m difference will be cribbed proportionally out of each 10m. Ground markings will still show 50m, 40m, 30m, 20m and 10m - when, in fact, all gaps between will be 60cm short of 10m.

The ERL is trying to get the field as wide as possible but it cannot go beyond 66m and it may be 64m. That is compared to the 61m at Albany last weekend, the minimum requirement under Rugby League International Federation rules.

The NZRL had no apologies yesterday for exploiting a loophole to make the Kangaroos play their game at Albany. Though they expected some "robust and colourful" discussion at the upcoming meeting of the RLIF during the series.

Chairman Selwyn Pearson said the NZRL would vote to support a motion that field sizes be standardised and did not see that as any contradiction. He regarded coach Daniel Anderson's call to cut the field size as "a stroke of genius". The Australians trained on the field beforehand and knew its dimensions and captain Darren Lockyer said before the game that both teams were on the same turf.

Other grounds used for future Tri-Nations games are also unlikely to comply with the standard NRL-size field of 100m by 68m with 8m in-goals. The Super League stipulates a standard playing field size of 100m by 68m, with in-goals 6m-11m, but there is acceptance that old, well-established grounds in major cities and some soccer fields used for the Super League competition do not comply.

Rules state that the grounds "should be as near the maximum [dimensions] as possible". The grand final between Leeds and Bradford had in-goals narrower than 6m.

NRL rules state that grounds must be 100m by 68m with an 8m in-goal "unless otherwise approved by the NRL". It is believed that some grounds, including Leichhardt Oval and Kogarah Oval, do not meet the 68m requirement. RLIF rules stipulate standard size as "not exceeding 100m in length" and "not exceeding 68m in width" with an in-goal of between 6m and 11m.

Carlaw Park, which last hosted international rugby league with Kiwis v Tonga in the middle of the 1999 Tri-Nations series, was 67m wide and had a fall from the top Domain-end corner to the bottom-waterfront opposite of nearly 2m.