I used to think Viteszlav Lavicka's choice to put the sprinklers on pre-home games was silly. Turns out I was the silly one; he may have actually been saving players from sustaining serious injuries (although this may not have been his aim).

Sure, he has to compete with multiple NRL teams, the Waratahs and Bon Jovi concerts (shudder) but by watering the pitch before the game, the chance of his players receiving knee injuries is considerably lowered.

Unfortunately, the orientation or location of many A-League stadiums means that watering the pitch before a match simply creates a large, grassy mess rather than a safer playing environment.

The poor state of A-League pitches is something which has captured my attention in recent weeks. Even the recently re-laid Bluetongue Stadium turf (which has had at least a month to settle) didn't look completely ready for Central Coast's game against Gold Coast at the weekend.

Due to shared tenancy agreements, such a turf change might have been impractical at another time. The pitch watering option is, to my knowledge, an issue at Bluetongue Stadium because there's a problem with the run off, so this isn't a viable solution. At any rate, the pitch looked so poor it had to be re-laid sooner or later.

In a sporting climate as competitive as Australia's, the shared tenancy of stadiums is inevitable. It does, however, seem to be the A-League that gets the rough end of the stick more often than not when it comes to stadium surfaces. Why could the pitch in Gosford, for example, not have been done in the A-League off-season in a period in which no or few NRL games were played?

In the past few years we've seen everything from New Year's Eve parties to freestyle motocross events disrupt A-League schedules and cause pitches to look like this. Nine times out of ten it's because the owner of the stadium has agreed to rent it out without considering the effects on the A-League tenants. And let's face it, AC/DC probably pays more for venues than the FFA does.

In cases such as the Newcastle Jets, the tenancy agreement is so complicated it makes your head hurt. If Jets owner Nathan Tinkler does buy out the Newcastle Knights, it could lead to a better deal for the Jets.

Obviously it's unreasonable to even think about suggesting that every A-League club needs to have an owner rich enough to control the tenancy of a major stadium, thereby giving them the first say in who uses their home ground. I believe there should be, however, a better deal for A-League teams in relation to the exclusive use of grounds during A-League seasons.

If I recall correctly, there were at least two serious knee injuries sustained on the much maligned Etihad Stadium surface last season, which was also used for several large events. At best, a poor pitch can result in a poor quality game. At worst, it can cause serious injuries. The state of the pitches needs to be scrutinised more - for the benefit of fans and players alike.