Gabba blackout during Lions-Demons AFL clash casts eyes forward to stadium upgrade for 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games

The blackout at the Gabba during the Lions’ AFL win over Melbourne has highlighted the importance of the Brisbane ground’s impending upgrade ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games.

The stadium was plunged into darkness as Brisbane led the Demons by 40 points in the fourth quarter of their clash on Friday night.

Play was delayed for more than half an hour before finally getting back underway, with the hosts just hanging on for an 11-point win in the end.

Rob Stork from Energex said a fault in an underground cable caused the outage, and crews were on site on Saturday morning carrying out repairs.

It was not the first time in recent memory the Gabba has gone dark, with similar episodes during cricket matches during the past couple of years.

A Big Bash League game between the Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder was abandoned when the lights went out early in the second innings of the match and could not be revived.

The first day of the 2021/22 Ashes series was also marred by a power outage when all the cameras died at the ground, leaving fans unable to watch the television coverage.

The Demons mounted a comeback in relative darkness in Brisbane.(Getty Images: Albert Perez/AFL Photos)

Gabba manager Mark Zundans said he was proud of how his team handled the situation.

“It’s not something that any of us want to happen,” he said.

“Ultimately we’re really happy with the safety that we delivered to our patrons and players. … At the end of the night, everyone walked away safe.”

He said there was no question there was a lot of ageing infrastructure within the Gabba.

“This is probably an example of something that we hope to rectify moving forward,” he said.

“I think that this is one of the many issues that we can address through an upgrade. Ultimately, we can only deal with what we’ve got at the moment.”

On Friday night, even when play got back underway, the game was completed in relative darkness compared to other AFL matches, sparking memories of suburban footy grounds around the country.

Queensland’s Deputy Premier and Minister for Infrastructure Steven Miles said it was more evidence the ground was in dire need of an upgrade.

Earlier on Friday, the state government had been forced to defend going over budget on the redevelopment, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk telling the opposition to “stop whinging” about the cost.

“This is going to be a fantastic Games; a fantastic legacy,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said the stadium was “reaching its end of life anyway” and was due for an upgrade regardless of the Games, with the facilities at the concrete bowl often coming in for criticism when compared to other top-flight cricket venues in Australia.

On Friday evening, the premier found herself at the other big ticket in town, the NRL’s Brisbane derby between the Dolphins and Broncos.

There was a full house at Lang Park to watch the Broncos’ 18-12 victory in the first clash between the cross-town rivals.

Regardless of the reason, with more major events coming to Australia and Brisbane in particular during the so-called “green and gold decade”, those in charge will be eager to avoid any more embarrassing incidents.