RIVAL coaches Rob Wright and Stacey Marinkovich have given Bendigo Stadium the tick of approval as a contender for more Suncorp Super Netball matches.
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Collingwood Magpies and West Coast Fever squared off in the first SSN match played for premiership points in Bendigo on Saturday, with the Western Australian visitors emerging with a tight two-goal win in front of an estimated crowd of 1800 people.
It was the Magpies' third visit to Bendigo this year following a practice match against Queensland Firebirds in February and their entry in the four-team pre-season blockbuster tournament in March.
For the Fever it was their second trip to Bendigo, after playing the Magpies and Queensland Firebirds at the blockbuster tournament.
There is arguably no stronger supporter for bringing SSN games to regional areas than Magpies coach Wright, who was lavish in his praise of both the venue and support of Bendigo netball fans.
He hoped the Magpies would return in 2020, at a revised game time, to avoid clashes with the various Bendigo region netball league matches.
"I'd love this stadium to be full - it would be great if it was a Saturday night or a Sunday fixture, so everyone can come," he said.
"Obviously Saturday afternoon there are lots of people at (local) netball, which makes life a bit hard for everyone.
"(The crowd) was fantastic in pre-season and again today (Saturday), I'd just love the place full as they are so good to us.
"It's a great stadium when it's full - it's a real cauldron - it would be nice to like that."
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Fever coach Marinkovich said her side would have no hesitation in returning for either a pre or regular season match.
"It's great for the Magpies to come out and showcase our sport in the regional areas - it's a great facility," she said.
"We came here in pre-season and it was good to get a test run to see how the flight and bus trip went and to make sure we got our timing right.
"I think we earned some good respect from the fans in the way we played here."
Lauren Kleinitz, a Magpies fan since their foundation in 2016, said she was thrilled to learn her team would be playing in her home town of Bendigo.
"I was lucky enough that one of my daughters Charlotte got to be one of the ball girls, so we got tickets because of that," she said.
"It's great it's come to a regional city like Bendigo, it's really exciting. We hope they play more games here next season.
"I really like the involvement with the crowd.
"We came to the last game when the Magpies played here in the pre-season, that was the first time I'd come into the stadium. It's very impressive."
Stuart Long was part of a group of four visiting fans from Perth, who are members of the Fever's corporate group Flight Centre Circle.
The group travels to Victoria each season to see their team take on Collingwood and were only too happy to take on some extra travel this time around for an overnight stay in Bendigo.
"We've lost a few of our (Fever) players to Collingwood over the last few years, so we always make this trip over, which is a bit of a highlight of the season for us," he said.
"We have a little bit of a soft spot for Collingwood because of those players, even though everyone hates Collingwood.
"This facility is absolutely amazing. We were talking before about how for a regional area you wouldn't normally expect this sort of stadium for any sport. It's a real credit to Bendigo."
The trip was made all the more worthwhile with the Fever prevailing 63-61 in a close tussle to score their first win of the season from five games.
Bendigo Stadium CEO Nathan O'Neill was delighted with the turnout.
"It's a great outcome for sport enthusiasts to have access to elite netball in regional Victoria, and we are certainly looking forward to hosting many more elite netball events in the future," he said.
"The facilities here are of the highest of standards."
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