Moments before the Sydney Swans were due to take on Brisbane in their official practice match, Blacktown International Sportspark had other ideas, with the power of the precinct going out.
Players and officials from both sides were left gobsmacked as they were sent back down into the rooms while the power outage was attended to.
Moments later, a snake was caught on the ground.
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It was five minutes of mayhem for the Swans and Lions on the same ground where five months earlier a snake forced play to stop in an AFLW match between GWS and Richmond.
The snake tonight, which was a highly venomous red belly black, was quickly collected by professionals as both Sydney and Brisbane attempted to keep warm in their rooms.
After 20 minutes of being kept in the dark, the AFL confirmed play would resume, as the light towers warmed back up.
The game had already been pushed by to a 7.10pm AEDT start to avoid extreme heat, now moved further back to 7.40pm.
Danny Daly, footy manager of the Lions, spoke moments after the mayhem of the blackout and snake incident.
“Been one of those days,” Daly joked on Fox Footy.
“Just spoke to the AFL, they’re unsure what the problem is at this stage. Both teams have been asked to go back into the rooms.
“They’ll let us know what’s going on in due course, when play will resume, if play will resume. We’ll just await their word.”
GM of Swans footy Leon Cameron expressed his worry before both clubs received clarification of the issue that was quickly resolved.
“We can see one single light there. It’s a bit disappointing. Hopefully we can resume the game,” Cameron said.
The game began at the delayed time of 7.40pm, with last year’s grand finalists, Brisbane, overcoming Sydney by 25 points.
Small Liosn forward Lincoln McCarthy booted three, with Hugh McClugagge collecting a massive 31 disposals.
For the Swans, James Jordon collected 31 touches.