(Reuters) – A snake delayed the start of a match between Greater Western Sydney Giants and Richmond Tigers in the Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW) competition on Saturday.
The red-bellied black snake, a venomous species found across eastern Australia, was spotted slithering on the field at Blacktown International Sportspark in western Sydney as it appeared to make the most of the sweltering conditions in the region.
Start of play was pushed back by around 30 minutes while officials waited for a snake handler to arrive.
Video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed the snake handler looking at ease as he made light work of removing the reptilian intruder.
“There’s a little red-bellied black snake on the ground at the moment, just in one of the far pockets,” Briana Harvey, the Giants’ head of women’s football, told broadcaster Fox during the delay.
“It is 34 degrees here and we are surrounded by bushland, so I guess it’s not that surprising.”
The Tigers beat the Giants by 19 points for their second win of the AFLW season.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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