Allianz Stadium playing surface criticised by Sydney Roosters james Tedesco and Lindsay Collins

Sydney Roosters players have described the playing surface at Allianz Stadium as “slippery”, “wet”, and “not too crash hot” as the $828 million Moore Park venue prepares to host four rugby league games in just three days as part of the NRL’s Gadhu Gathering.

Less than an hour after the Bulldogs and Manly clashed at the venue on July 27, ground staff were straight to work on the playing surface.

And on Monday morning, giant heat lamps were baking grass at the northern end of the venue. There was also a sprinkler with a heat lamp positioned over a bare patch of grass in the north-western corner.

Giant puddles and divots have become a common feature of NRL games at Allianz, with Venues NSW awaiting the findings of a review into the turf and drainage systems.

The Roosters and Bulldogs meet on Friday night, followed by South Sydney and Parramatta Saturday night, then the Wests Tigers and Manly on Sunday afternoon, including the NRLW as a curtain-raiser.

Tigers CEO Shane Richardson said there were no contingency plans to relocate the Sunday game, and had full confidence the surface would remain safe by the end of the weekend.

Roosters skipper James Tedesco said the surface made life difficult for his side, and said stadium chiefs had to “sort that out”.

“For a first-class, elite stadium like this that hosts a lot of topline clubs in Australia, and around the world, the surface needs to be top class, as the stadium is,” Tedesco said. “They need to sort that out. “Every time we play here, it’s slippery and wet. It’s not the driest conditions.”