A severe Sydney thunderstorm has resulted in a delayed start to Friday night’s AFLW clash between GWS and North Melbourne.
The round-two opener at Drummoyne Oval was set to start at 7.15pm AEDT but the start of proceedings was pushed back because of lightning close to the venue, while a light tower also briefly went out.
The covers were peeled off at approximately 7.40pm and the game finally started at 7.58pm.
AFL officials worked the phones, taking advice from the Bureau of Meteorology regarding the risk of future lightning strikes nearby.
“There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes,” AFL’s head of football operations Steve 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.