Steel netball fever builds

Southern Steel officials are expecting a crowd of nearly 3000 at Stadium Southland for the 2017 national netball league grand final showdown.

As of yesterday afternoon, about 100 tickets remained for the Steel’s ANZ Premiership grand final against the Pulse in Invercargill tonight.

The crowd is expected to be the largest at a game at Stadium Southland since the team switched from the Sting to Steel in 2008.

ILT Stadium Southland general manager Nigel Skelt said there had been a buzz at the venue this week and he sensed a return to the past.

‘‘It has brought back a lot of memories for us from a venue point of view. It goes back to the halcyon days of that great Sting run.

‘‘Should our team be successful [on Wednesday night] it will go a long way to bringing that fever pitch back.’’

‘‘It’s more than about netball, it’s about the community.’’

Skelt challenged the Invercargill crowd to transfer the stadium into a sea of Steel colour for the final.

The community, young and old, has been getting into the finals spirit in Invercargill, including the kids at Waverley Park Kindergarten.

Steel captain Wendy Frew visited the kindergarten, which her son Archie attends, yesterday when it held a Steel party. The kids and teachers dressed in Steel colours to spur on the team, and Frew in particular.

The game will start at 7.40pm.