Bendigo Spirit and Dandenong Rangers will re-kindle a growing pre-season rivalry at Eagle Stadium on September 17.
The Spirit and the Rangers used their Werribee exhibition match last season as a key warm-up to their Women’s National Basketball League campaigns and they are back in town for a second instalment after the success of the first meeting.
Last year’s game attracted a big turnout of spectators wanting to catch a glimpse of the leading women’s basketballers in the land.
Andrew Summerville, the business manager at the Werribee Basketball Association, expects another big crowd to attend this year.
“We have great female participation in all our programs and we would like to see that continue to grow,” Summerville said.
“This WNBL game is great for young girls who will surely draw inspiration from the likes of Sara Blicavs, Steph Cumming, Kelsey Griffin and Gabe Richards, to name a few.
“It’s a pleasure to be hosting Bendigo Spirit and Dandenong Rangers at Eagle Stadium and we look forward to this game.”
Bendigo Spirit head coach Simon Pritchard is aware of the value of taking the game to the suburbs.
While it will be a crucial warm up game for the Spirit for conditioning and team cohesion, it is also important for the Spirit to build brand awareness outside of their town.
“We are happy to once again be playing a WNBL game in Werribee against Dandenong in what is an important phase of our pre-season, which will allow our players vital court time to work on our team structures and become comfortable playing together,” Pritchard said.
“The facilities provided at the Werribee stadium are first class and the WBA do an outstanding job to ensure we are looked after both on and off the court.”
Dandenong Rangers head coach Larissa Anderson said the popularity of the WNBL is growing by the year.
She said that playing in different locations exposed more people to talented players on the Rangers roster.
“These pre-season games are extremely important in helping to prepare for what is going to be one of the toughest WNBL seasons yet,” Anderson said.
“The shortened format means there is little or no room for error, so the more games you can get in before opening round, the better.
Tickets at www.trybooking.com/RSMV
