Power outages and lightning strikes have caused multiple delays in Friday night’s AFLW clash between GWS and North Melbourne in Sydney.
The round-two opener at Drummoyne Oval was set to begin at 7.15pm AEDT but the start was pushed back 43 minutes because of a severe thunderstorm.
AFL’s head of football operations Steve Hocking was concerned about lightning close to the venue, while a light tower also briefly stopped working.
Play started and the rain actually eased but three light towers at the suburban venue went out at 8.35pm, at which point North led the Giants 3.2 (20) to 1.4 (20) during the second quarter.
Umpires deemed there wasn’t sufficient light and directed players to return to the rooms, with some four minutes and 38 seconds remaining in the second half.
The light towers are now back on and Hocking is upbeat the game will be completed.
Hocking discussed the state of play in the second quarter with representatives from both clubs, who have agreed to a change in the timing of breaks.
The halftime break will now last just six minutes.
Prior to the delayed start of play, AFL officals worked the phones and took advice from the Bureau of Meteorology regarding the risk of future lightning strikes nearby.
“There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes,” Hocking said on Fox Footy.
“The footy ops team is working really hard on it.
“My feeling is that we need to get the game away but also we’re majorly concerned about the players’ safety, absolutely.”
It is the second year in a row that an AFLW match at Drummoyne has been affected by a storm.
Unsafe conditions prompted delays during last year’s clash between GWS and Carlton.