I do think the RFL in conjunction with clubs will need to look at improving the safety of perimeter advertising.
Its fair to say that players should not be suffering such serious injuries through collisions with off pitch materials in modern stadia.
Langtree Park as a stadium from a players perspective offers far greater off pitch run off areas than probably any other league ground in the UK. Yet the player still suffered a very serious injury.
Its not like changes cant be done. Compare for example the amount of cladding round the rugby posts nowadays to those from just prior to SL.
Its purely down to a willingness to spend a little bit more money.
With regard to the player, I do wonder as well if they Australian players are not used to playing in such wet conditions on a pitch specifically designed to deal with lots of rainfall.
Let me explain. Australian and French pitches are designed for dryer conditions and therefore don't have the built in drainage of a stadium pitch such as at Langtree park. Consequently when it does rain on those pitches, not only does the pitch get muddy but also develops pools of surface water. These two things would act as breaks to slow a sliding player down. The high tech pitch at Saints on the other hand is very good at getting rid of excess water, and its construction also avoids mud. For example look how clean both sets of players jerseys were at the end of the match.
Consequently the water that does remain acts solely to reduce surface friction and allows players to travel significant distances while diving on the ground.
