Weekly Times | THE semi-final between Red Cliffs and Irymple was temporarily halted on Sunday after what was described as a “mini tornado” swept through Merbein.
The wind brought down several tree branches, including one that went over the boundary line, forcing the Sunraysia league match to be stopped late in the final quarter.
Merbein president Toney Hurley said he did not know how the branch missed people, because spectators were lined up along the boundary line watching.
He and Red Cliffs president David Hensgen both described the weather as like a “mini tornado”, with Hensgen saying there was “no warning”.
One person was taken to the Mildura Base Hospital by ambulance with head and neck soreness in a stable condition.
Hurley said another man suffered a swollen wrist after he was hit by a branch, and another branch severely damaged a car parked at the back of the clubrooms.
Hurley said there was only a few minutes left in the game when it resumed, and the Tigers’ ran out 13-point winners to advance to the preliminary final against Mildura on Saturday.
Hurley said when he saw people running on to the ground his first thought was there was a brawl.
“I looked over further and saw there was a big branch of a tree on the oval,” he said.
“By the time we got there people were lifting the big branch up off, probably not so much people by the time we got there, but lifting it back off the oval.
“We’re very lucky it wasn’t a tragedy, I believe. I feared the worst running across.”
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Rod Dickson said a change went through the area between 4-5pm, and gusts of 54km/h recorded at the nearest observation base at Mildura at 4.45pm.
“I certainly wouldn’t rule out that you could get damaging winds out of the change and any showers ... It was certainly the situation where that can happen and you can get localised, damaging winds in that sort of situation,” Dickson said.
“But unfortunately, without having anything to really suggest it was particularly widespread or long-lived, it was probably just a short sharp burst of wind right on the change,” he said.
It capped a tumultuous week for Red Cliffs, after midfielder John Jackson was found guilty of conduct unbecoming at the tribunal and suspended for five weeks.
The misconduct occurred on July 25 against Merbein and sparked an investigation.
Jackson’s suspension took him past the 16-game threshold at which deregistration occurs.
Red Cliffs did not appeal against the penalty.
