Whilst AFL fans never want games to be halted or even abandoned, player and fan safety has to come first, particularly in regards to lightning.
Whilst storms aren't common during the season, lightning has forced the stoppage of games in the past, and there are rules and regulations the umpires are required to follow in regards to dealing with the threat of this severe weather activity.
The Sporting News looks at the specific AFL lightning rules.
MORE: Follow the Coleman Medal race with daily updates | Every fixture and result for the 2024 AFL season | Every AFL team’s injury list and Supercoach implications
What is the AFL lightning rule?
The AFL sets out clear guidelines in it's Extreme Weather Policy, whereby games must be halted if there is evidence of lightning within 10 kilometres of the stadium.
Once this has been established, players and officials must head back to the changerooms, with the rules officially stating: "Once lightning is within a 10km (approx) radius the match manager will advise the emergency goal umpire to stop (or delay) the match and players and officials will be asked to return to the dressing rooms for a minimum period of 20 minutes."
The Extreme Weather Policy recommends a delay of 30 minutes as it gives the best chance of the lightning and storm cell moving further away from the ground.
Once it has been decided play can resume, players are allowed a five minute warm up period if the break was 20 minutes long, and for breaks of over 40 minutes, the warm up time is increased to eight minutes, with play recommencing from where it was stopped.
When was the last time an AFL game was stopped for lightning?
The last time an AFL match was paused due to the presence of lightning was in the final round of the 2024 season during the Collingwood and Melbourne match at the MCG, with lighting being reported in the fourth quarter of the match.
It first appeared with around 12 minutes left in the match, but the decision to stop the game wasn't made until there was 9:31 left on the clock, with umpires and players forced to retreat to the changerooms.
The players were in the changerooms for around 25 minutes, reemerging at 10:27pm to have their warm up per the rules; Collingwood shared videos on their social media of the players passing the time during the delay.
What happens during a lighting delay? ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/6pyM3NA4kU
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) August 23, 2024
The game resumed and finished as normal, with Collingwood winning 103-57.
