Players enjoying Far North support

GIANTS defender Amy Parmenter doesn’t have any family in Cairns, so when she looked up into the stands and saw a “Parmy Army” sign at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena on Saturday afternoon, she was pleasantly caught off-guard.

“I was a bit confused about that one,” she said.

“It was really nice. We haven’t had heaps of orange in the crowd recently so it was really good to have some Giants fans here.”

The Giants rising star wasn’t the only player to acknowledge the netball-crazy crowd at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena on the weekend.

Thunderbirds’ Maisie Nankivell said it was great to see the fans come out and support the sport.

“Even if there’s not many Tbirds supporters out there, there’s people that love the game of netball, which is really exciting to be a part of,” Nankivell said.

“It’s good to see that an occasion like this brings people together, which is a really special moment for everyone out on the court. It’s a cool atmosphere out there.”

West Coast Fever’s Verity Charles was also feeling the love in the Far North.

“We felt a few voices out there,” she said.

“I’m loving coming up here, loving the heat, loving the people.

“To have it here in Cairns and to have the girls come out and actually experience it is just awesome.”

West Coast Fever and Australian Diamonds head coach Stacey Marinkovich said it was important to bring elite netball to regional areas.

“It’s obviously a bit different but I think it’s great to have a pop-up game and I think it’s great to be able to showcase the level of the game and the skill when bringing it out to Cairns,” she said.

“You don’t often get to get out to the regions so I think it’s great that in this climate we’re able to bring out sport to different areas.”