Gabba must convince AFL it can keep lights on for Pies-Lions blockbuster

Fool me twice …

The AFL has sought assurances from the Gabba that the lighting debacle that disrupted last Friday night’s Brisbane-Melbourne match won’t happen again, with the league desperate for answers ahead of the blockbuster Good Friday eve clash with Collingwood.

Lions and Demons players wait on field as power goes out during the round two match at the Gabba.Credit:Getty

But the blackout, caused by the failure of an underground cable, has done nothing to dim the chances for a grand final under lights this year and high-level AFL sources say the league is likely to push for a twilight fixture.

After Friday night’s mess at the Gabba was cleaned up by AFL football boss and CEO candidate Andrew Dillon and his highly respected deputy, acting football operations chief Laura Kane, the league’s attention has swiftly turned to making sure the chaotic scenes don’t happen again. The outage during the AFL fixture was the second in recent years – the same thing happened at a Big Bash cricket match in 2019. Stadiums Queensland was contacted for comment.

The Gabba is due to host three more night games before round 11 and with the Lions expected to once again go deep into September, the venue could host a final – the majority of which are played at night.

Though publicly, the league said after Friday’s debacle that emergency protocols “rolled out perfectly” during the Gabba power outage, the venue has seven days until its next nighttime fixture, in which time it must show the AFL that the same electrical issues won’t happen again.

Though league sources would not confirm that next Thursday’s game would definitely be moved, the AFL is drawing up contingency plans in the event the lighting problems aren’t resolved.

And despite the typical opposition levelled against the possibility of a floodlit final, the majority of the AFL Commission remains open to the idea of the game being played under lights this year.

It remains unlikely, however, that the AFL will go from a 2.30pm start to 7.20pm in just 12 months. Sources familiar the discussions about the timing indicate for that reason, a 4.40pm fixture remains likely for 2023.

The league can’t sell any more tickets and there’s nothing in the broadcast deal that talks about a start time for the grand final. So the game can’t generate any extra money from it.

But, according to Channel Seven, it would substantially increase the television audience. Figures provided to The Scoop by the host broadcaster indicate that if the grand final were moved from 2.30 to 4.40, it could generate a 50 per cent increase in television audience, from 3 million to 4.5 million people nationally.

To add to the argument, in most rounds, seven of the nine games are played under some form of artificial light. It should also be noted that both preliminary finals are played at night.

At Holmes in a crisis

As darkness overwhelmed the Gabba on Friday night, Channel Seven’s commentary box also lost power. But there was a silver lining – the efforts of boundary rider Abbey Holmes.

With the power out, Holmes was the only one physically capable of continuing to host the broadcast.

Abbey Holmes was brilliant on the broadcast last Friday night.Credit:AFL Photos

So while Brian Taylor and Matthew Richardson raced downstairs to join her, Holmes carried the broadcast, live on air.

She was creative, composed and a consummate professional. The Scoop hears the bosses at Seven were blown away.

At the MCG? Not likely!

“Imagine if this happened on grand final day at the MCG!”

That was the cry heard from several anti-night grand final crusaders during the week, including 3AW’s top-rating drive radio host Tom Elliott.

But Melbourne Cricket Club boss Stuart Fox has quickly moved to extinguish any concerns, telling The Scoop: “The MCG has three-pair of incoming high-voltage electrical feeds, which gives the stadium a very high power supply reliability.

“In the highly unlikely event there was a total loss of power due to a significant external power failure in the Melbourne CBD and surrounding suburbs and the MCG lost all incoming three-pair high voltage electrical feeds, the stadium has two 500kva generators as an emergency back-up to allow for the safe exiting of patrons from the venue.”

The MCG has plenty of back-up should the power go out.Credit:Getty Images

The ’G also spent the best part of $11 million to replace 1200 metal halide lamps with LED lights, which make the game easier on the eye at the ground and on TV.

“Another benefit of the LED lights at the MCG is the instant restrike in the event that total power is lost.”

Surely that’s enough to brighten the mood of those in favour of a nighttime grand final.

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