The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of severe thunderstorms. In an abundance of caution, the Western Bulldogs took no chances, making AFL history preparing to face the Brisbane Lions this week. The news broke late on Friday, less than two hours before that night’s kickoff. Given the obvious threat of sabotage, AFL officials made the decision to keep the Bulldogs players inside.
As the storm clouds moved in, Bulldogs players stopped to run up the brief race to hopefully see the final field. But security guards quickly shut them down, forcing them back into the building to regroup. The weather system became an existential threat. Strong damaging winds over 120 km/h and large hailstones over 5 cm within a 10 km radius from the ground.
Bulldogs players were kept inside for nearly 45 minutes as they waited for directions from AFL bosses. Though well behind schedule, Rhylee West felt confident in his team’s plan to pivot, telling us that
“Yeah, just a bit delayed and not allowed outside, but we’ll just stay in here and do our thing inside.” – Rhylee West
The decision to keep the Bulldogs off the field was not an easy one, but it was made with their safety front of mind. Both teams are now adjusting to the weather conditions as they prepare for the match, which is still scheduled to kick off at 7:40 PM. Despite the original hold-up, Bulldogs players soon found their way onto the ground, warming up just in time for the action to kick off.
Come hell or high-water, officials stressed, that’ll lead to a pretty fascinating evening when the game gets under way. Security is still here ready to enforce whatever precautions need to be taken as both teams continue to play through atypical, inclement weather.
