Central Coast Mariners have expressed their anger that the local council allowed three rugby league trials to be played at Central Coast Stadium on the eve of one of their biggest games of the season.
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Manly played the Roosters in three grades in stormy weather on Saturday at Central Coast Stadium less than 24 hours before the Mariners were scheduled to play Melbourne Victory at the same venue.
The owners of the venue, Central Coast Council, agreed to host an NRL trial match, NSW Cup game and youth fixture on the same day, leaving Mariners coach Paul Okon disappointed the playing surface could be damaged in games that were essentially meaningless.
Heavy rain storms on Saturday afternoon added to the risk of the surface being damaged.
The scheduling has left the Mariners frustrated, especially considering they are the stadium's only major, regular tenant.
"We're basically the only tenant there so we would have hoped a lot more consideration went into the planning, but we can't control that unfortunately," Okon said. "I'm not sure if whoever made the decision gave it any thought or consideration."
The rugby league games stopped the Mariners from having their normal training session at the ground on Saturday and Okon wasn't optimistic about how the field would respond to the traffic.
"It's hard to think three games of rugby league the night before a football game is not going to have some impact on the pitch, which, so far this season, all of our home games have been played on probably the best surface in the A-League," he said.
The Mariners had not ruled out changing their tactics for Sunday's match against Melbourne Victory should the quality of the playing surface drop significantly.
"We have people from our club there tonight at the ground having a look and informing us as soon as possible as to what the aftermath of it all is," Okon said. "It is disappointing because it's not the season, it's just a trial game."
Central Coast Stadium venue manager Kath Casey said the surface had held up well following heavy rain on Friday, but she expected some deterioration after the league games and adverse weather on Saturday.
"There will be wear and tear of course, like any venue with back-to-back events," Casey said on Saturday afternoon. "There is no damage to the pitch at the moment. There was a lot of water overnight [Friday], but we had the pumps working."
Central Coast Mariners have made an offer to the council to assume management of the venue and unveiled plans to redevelop the stadium.
The Mariners head into Sunday's game against the Victory on the back of three consecutive wins in the A-League that have put them back in contention for a top-six finish.
Defender Scott Galloway faces his former club and says his side is brimming with confidence to take another major scalp.
But he says the Mariners don't always get the credit they deserve.
"There's fight and spirit within the team now," he said. "We put our bodies on the line knowing that, if we do that, we can get results. It seems to be the look of some people that, when we get the result, the opposition has an off day. They seem to be surprised the Mariners have won three in a row, but we've played some great football this season."
