Wild weather hits Brisbane on AFL Grand Final day

The biggest game on the AFL calendar was hanging in the balance with damning forecasts set to wreak havoc in Brisbane.

Wild weather could cause Grand Final chaos

The AFL Grand Final between Geelong and Richmond looked set to be a slippery affair with the heavens opening in Brisbane on Saturday.

An alarming aspect of the forecasts showed the chance of thunderstorms, which could potentially have seen the biggest game on the calendar either delayed or postponed.

Fortunately, the Big Dance kicked off without an issue as the weather settled down and there were no issues for the rest of the night.

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Under the AFL’s Extreme Weather Policy, if lightning is present within 10km of a ground, the match has to be stopped and all players have to head indoors.

The match will then only get back underway once the lightning has vanished from the 10km radius for more than 30 minutes.

“Under the lightning rule they can delay the match by up to an hour,” an AFL spokesperson said pre-match.

“It has happened before, but it’s very rare.”

A pre-season game in 2020 between West Coast and Essendon was postponed due to lightning, as was a game in 2014 between GWS and Sydney.

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“The (Gabba) ground looking spectacular this morning, we have just had a shower of rain come through,” Channel 7 reporter Bianca Stone said on Saturday morning.

“That’s the only thing people are keeping a very close eye on because the Bureau (of Meteorology) is predicting some rain and perhaps some storms.”

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast a 70 per cent chance of showers throughout the game, and a 20 per cent chance of lightning within the 10km radius of the Gabba.

The rain started to soften a couple of hours before the opening bounce and when the players ran out onto the ground conditions were much more pleasant. Thankfully, that’s the way it stayed.

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The weather radar just before 3pm

Queensland... Beautiful one day.. #AFLGF #AFL pic.twitter.com/IfbB8b7Szm

— Michael Smyth (@MichaelSmyth_) October 24, 2020

Report to grounds.. #AFLGF pic.twitter.com/UvfJUs0eDW

— Brett Sprigg (@BrettSprigg) October 24, 2020

Brisbane weather update: currently POURING with rain. BUCKETING! #AFLGF @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/Z6xL5ZuOJE

— Alicia Muling (@AliciaMuling9) October 24, 2020