The AFL believes its emergency protocols had been completely executed in the course of the Gabba’s energy outage however Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan felt Melbourne had been handed an unfair benefit.
The Lions’ 40-point lead was slashed to 11 when Friday evening’s contest resumed after an extended delay, with the Demons booting 5 unanswered objectives as soon as the lights had been turned again on.
“We were told to stay in the rooms and then we found out that Melbourne had been out on the ground for five or so minutes warming up,” Fagan informed SEN on Saturday.
“That was a little bit of an unfair advantage.”
AFL guidelines permit for video games to restart inside an hour of being interrupted by occasions similar to energy outages or lightning strikes.
Play was halted for 38 minutes on Friday evening – a break Fagan believes was “way too long”.
“If a game can’t be reconvened in 30 minutes, especially if it’s in the dying stages, then the game should be finalised and the result stands,” Fagan stated.
“It’s a good thing for the AFL and the industry to discuss.
“Hopefully it would not occur fairly often however we play soccer at evening beneath lights, so I suppose it is at all times an opportunity.”
Melbourne threatened to pinch what would have been a remarkable win despite Fagan predicting the late run.
He warned his side the Demons would throw caution to the wind, urging Brisbane to get their hands on the ball and slow the game down in the final minutes.
“They simply acquired on a little bit little bit of a roll and it was a little bit bit onerous to cease,” Fagan stated.
“Thank goodness we gained, as a result of we did need to win on the evening.
“We played particularly well until the game was stopped and we had them on the ropes to a degree.
“They had been wanting fairly drained, it was a extremely scorching evening up in Brisbane, and that half-an-hour break re-energised them a little bit bit.
“Probably psychologically it was to their advantage – they had nothing to lose.”
AFL common supervisor of competitors administration Laura Kane stated the league will evaluate its dealing with of Friday evening’s drama.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had something happen,” Kane informed SEN.
“And to be honest, after a couple of years of COVID we’re as flexible as we’ve ever been, and we’re able to navigate the situation quite well.
“So we are going to debrief, however I used to be actually happy with how final evening rolled out.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
