There is no question that players like to perform on a quality playing surface, and that the condition of the pitch can dictate the performance of a team
It’s difficult to decide whether Jim Morley, Head Groundsman at Batley Bulldogs RLFC, is part time or full time, such is his commitment to his pitch.
One thing is for sure, he has typical British ...
BULLDOG SPIRIT B
atley Bulldogs currently play in League One of the Rugby League National Leagues. They are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the
Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, making them one of the world’s first rugby league teams. During its lifetime the club has had its fair share of success and failures, including winning the Challenge Trophy three times in the first five years of the tournament being played. But silverware has been hard to come by of late, and only a brief spell in the late 1990s saw any form of success with the club winning the Trans- Pennine Trophy in 1998. When the league was restructured into two divisions in the 1960s, Batley were placed in the second division and they remain one of only a few teams who have never made it into the top flight! The Mount Pleasant Ground overlooks the West
Yorkshire town of Batley. It has undergone major redevelopment over the past ten years with new stands and clubhouse facilities. However, the pitch remains a traditional soil based pitch with one heck of a slope on it! From one end to the other it rises a staggering 3.6 metres! There is no drainage installed. Water generally drains away quickly thanks to 150mm depth of topsoil on top of a sandstone layer. However, the topsoil is, typically, a heavy loam soil which, when compacted, can cause problems.
Maintenance is undertaken by Jim Morley a local
groundsman and landscape gardener who, for the past seven years, has been contracted to work eight hours a week at the ground.
The pitch is cut using a 30” Ransomes Mastiff mower,
always-double cutting for matches. During the growing season Jim will cut the pitch four times a week maintaining a height of cut of 32mm. Mowing alone takes close to six hours a week and, with marking out taking a further two hours, his contracted time is soon used up. Consequently, Jim spends at least twice his contracted hours at the ground on a voluntary basis, sometimes up to twenty hours a week, ensuring that the pitch is in a good condition. Marking out is carried using a transfer wheel line marker and Grassline paint. Weeds are spot treated, mainly to control plantains and dandelions. After matches the pitch is divoted and then brushed using a SISIS 5ft sweeper brush.
Jim often has to beg, steal or borrow equipment. The pitch easily gets compacted after play, especially during wet periods, when the soil is wet and saturated. To help relieve the compaction the pitch is regularly aerated, alternating between SISIS slit tining and chain harrowing on a weekly rotation.
Even though the club allocate a small annual budget for general maintenance, Jim still has to go ‘cap in hand’ to secure funds for end of season
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