The Sydney Cricket Ground is under fire for a poor playing surface that has proved a safety hazard for Sydney and Western Bulldogs players.

The quality of approximately one third of the turf on the ground was in visibly bad condition for the blockbuster AFL clash on Friday night, causing players from both sides to lose their feet.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: SCG playing surface under fire for Friday night clash.

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Bulldogs forward Aaron Naughton was in hot form in the first half, but slipped over several times, and he wasn’t alone.

“This is the part of the turf that players have found difficult,” James Brayshaw said as Ryley Sanders ran into the area before kicking to Naughton, who slipped over a moment before the ball got to him.

“There’s another example — but Naughton came back onto it.”

Matthew Richardson added: “Yeah, it’s not good down there.

“A lot of players are slipping over, having trouble. Aaron Naughton with a good diving slips catch there.”

The issue with the turf stems, largely, from the Andrea Bocelli concert held at the stadium on April 3, which was 85 days ago, in Round 3 of the AFL season.

SCG grounds staff have struggled to revive the turf at the Paddington end since then.

And the issue only seemed to get worse throughout the night, with chunks of turf even being displaced from the playing surface.

Around 10 minutes after Naughton’s slip, Ed Richards went to ground while chasing Justin McInerney, right in the heart of the affected area.

“Again, the player falls over. This turf’s becoming a story I reckon,” Brayshaw said.

Less than a minute later, Naughton went down again, but recovered to take a pack mark.

“Even he went to ground before coming back at that footy,” Brayshaw said.

“The Bradman Stand end, Paddington end of this ground, it’s like they’re on ice skates.”

Dale Thomas added: “The grass in that turf area, it’s as bad as you see.

“Players trying to lead, both forward and defender, all going to ground. Chunks coming out of it everywhere.

“It’s horrible up that end.”

Former Adelaide and Geelong forward Josh Jenkins blasted the condition of the ground.

“You cannot stand up at one end of the ground. Genuine ice rink. And genuine disgrace,” he said.

Speaking at half time, GWS Giants skipper Toby Greene, who played at the SCG on May 4, which was Round 8, said he had to wear metal studs for the game, which have since been banned by the league.

“I remember our captain’s run (the day before the game), and I actually wore the metal studs that next day,” Greene said on Channel 7.

“I don’t know if I was supposed to, I think the memo got sent out after that.

“But it certainly is hard, especially as a forward because you want to lead up and use figure-eights to try and get the footy. It makes it hard.”

The problem continued to mar the quality of the contest throughout the night.

“When players are instinctively starting to doubt that they can hold their feet on an AFL ground, that’s a concern,” Brayshaw said late in the third quarter.