They have lavished care and attention on it over the past four weeks.
And on Friday night, the test will come when the Super League heavyweights of Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers test out the new pitch at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Phil Armitage and his team at the Stadium have taken advantage of a Spring window in fixtures to carry out much-needed maintenance jobs on the pitch, which of course is used by Huddersfield Town as well as the GIants.
As soon as Town finished their season at the start of May, the ground staff were in with specialist equipment taking off the top surface of the pitch which is part made up of artificial fibres under the Desso system.
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Phil, who is operations manager for Kirklees Stadium Development Ltd, said: “The entire pitch was relaid in 2011, after lasting for 15 years, and we hope this current one will last the same time. We did try one year with not as much work but by December it was in a poor state.
“It has gone well and we have been lucky with the weather, over which we have no control. There has been a mix of sun and rain which is ideal for the new grass.
“It’s looking quite good and we have been busy marking it out for the Giants game and cutting it again.
“The mowing machines have been off for their annual service with new blades fitted. It takes two men about two hours to cut the entire pitch and we’re pleased with how it looks.”
The Desso system at the Stadium was one of the first in the country and the former Town groundsman Raymond Chappell went to Holland to see it before it was laid here.
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The first stage of the work saw much of the old surface stripped off and it was then dressed with 120 tonnes of specialist sand.
A vertidrain machine was used to relieve compaction on the pitch before some 400kg of grass seed was sown.
