TOPIC:

What a bizarre night. 6 minutes into the last quarter the players were removed from Optus Stadium because of an imminent threat of lightning. At this stage the Demons were 33 points up and in complete control.. They were off for 30 minutes and when they came back the whole momentum of the game changed. West Coast attacked relentlessly and but for a few misses in their shots for goal could have snatched the game in the closing seconds.
Apparently the rule is that once they come off they have to stay off for at least 20 minutes then conditions are assessed every 10 minutes up till the one hour mark at which time the game would be called off if conditions were still dangerous.
There was a Sydney v GWS game a few years ago which was interrupted by lightning but this was in the first quarter as I remember

Absolute joke,should of just abandoned the game at that stage.

Yes, West Coast turned it around after play restarted which was not surprising given they were paid free kicks at a ratio of 4 to 1 compared to Melbourne after the break. I've never seen a team so blessed with such fantastic discipline not to transgress themselves whilst the opponent self destructs when playing at Optus.  

BC wrote:

Yes, West Coast turned it around after play restarted which was not surprising given they were paid free kicks at a ratio of 4 to 1 compared to Melbourne after the break. I've never seen a team so blessed with such fantastic discipline not to transgress themselves whilst the opponent self destructs when playing at Optus.  

Too true BC, just wondering if it works the other way when they play in Melbourne or Adelaide?
Strange decision to stop the game when no actual lightening was happening near the ground, should have waited until/if it was visible from the ground, player could have been off the ground in a minute or two. I wasn't there so maybe it was?

Senior Seagull wrote:

Too true BC, just wondering if it works the other way when they play in Melbourne or Adelaide?
Strange decision to stop the game when no actual lightening was happening near the ground, should have waited until/if it was visible from the ground, player could have been off the ground in a minute or two. I wasn't there so maybe it was?

Certainly horse races are stopped whilst there is lightning in the area.  I think it is reasonable to suspend play when there is lightning about.   

News reports mentioned that it was forecast but nothing eventuated. If anyone was at the game maybe they can describe what happened, was there any visible or audible thunderstorms in the vicinity or off in the distance?

Wc were kicking to the scoring end with a strong breeze. They could have won and almost did. This helped their % which could mean everything in a couple of weeks. If they had called it off at that stage how would that have been fair??

Reading the match report, the D's were cruising, well ahead and playing attacking footy before the stoppage, but for some strange reason when they re-started, they went completely into their shell and played a very careful defensive game, almost trying to save the game with over half the qtr left whereas WC came out and played like a team with nothing to lose and everything to gain. The D's coaching panel got it very wrong and almost cost them the game, but a win is a win.