Dear valued subscribers,

What a week! So many accolades!

Last week we livestreamed the U16 Mackay Meteorettes topple the favourites, Gold Coast Waves, 78-74 and then this week I was inspired watching the livestream of the Under 12 Meteorettes smashing Townsville Flames 81-44 on Wednesday.

Those girls showed impressive teamwork throughout the game and young Isabel Smith shot 39 points in the grand final. What a feat!

Watching these girls shoot clutch three-pointers makes you proud as punch. Go Mackay!

You can watch the Under-14 Girls State Championships in Mackay today here.

Catch all the livestream replays here.

I also watched the AFL grand final matches yesterday and loved the atmosphere around the ground and at Harrup Park.

My beloved Sainters were playing at the same time as the Mackay seniors and I was stoked to see both come away with the win.

Our sports editor, Callum Dick, was playing in the ressies but the Swans took the premiership in that game.

They were great matches, but it was a shame about the fight at the end of the reserves game.

Why do people have to behave like that?

Having played follow-the-footy netball in Victoria from age 8 to 24 and having covered many a footy match early in my career, I’ve heard a few choice words yelled from the sidelines.

But it was also shocking to hear a Saints player at Harrup Park shouting vulgarities every time a Swans player was kicking for goal; it was utterly disgraceful.

Speaking of Harrup, was great to see the country club this week get the $10 million needed to get its expansion plans over the line.

It’s something the Daily Mercury got behind from the get-go because we believe bringing international sport to Mackay will not only inspire our youngsters but help bring much-needed sports tourism dollars into our city.

An independent assessment found the proposed expanded arena facilities could deliver more than 54,000 extra visitor nights a year, $31.6 million in regional economic output each year of operation and support 90 new ongoing jobs.

A similar number of jobs and $43.2 million in regional economic output is also expected to be generated during construction.

I also wanted to mention the Mirani election debate on Wednesday night.

It’s great to see people so passionate about who they should vote for this election, which begins in earnest this week when the State Government goes into caretaker mode.

This week we have the Burdekin debate and the following week we have Mackay and Whitsunday so keep an eye out for those livestreamed events or watch the replay after if you miss them.

If you have any questions you want us to put to the people who want to represent you in parliament, please email rae.wilson@news.com.au.

Lastly but certainly not least, reporter Heidi Petith will head to Eton this week for the Daily Mercury’s My Town series which is good timing given the $189.26 million Eton Range realignment is finally open to traffic.

Councillor Alison Jones will join Heidi at “the best pub in the scrub” at Hotel Eton on Tuesday from 11am to 1pm to meet with locals.

It is your chance to celebrate community champions, profile a new business, tell your story or just come down for a chat.

And we at the Daily Mercury want to hear from you.

Email Heidi on heidi.petith@news.com.au or phone 4957 0316 to share your story if you can’t make it on the day.

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