Former champion Eagle Nic Naitanui attracts huge crowd in Geraldton for Rigters IGA Queens family fun day

Former West Coast Eagles superstar Nic Naitanui attracted a massive crowd in Geraldton on Saturday as part of Rigters IGA Queens family fun day.

Hundreds gathered from 8am on Saturday to get a glimpse of the three-time All-Australian ruckman, who has been a fan-favourite since his debut in 2009.

People of all ages lined up for an autograph and a photo with the 34-year-old, who retired from football in 2023 following a run of injuries.

The day was to celebrate Rigters IGA’s renovations, which were headlined by a new sushi bar inside the shop, as well as a revamp to the store layout.

Operations manager Stuart Bain said the decision was to keep up with consumer demand.

“We thought we’d go across the whole store so we can increase the categories people are after and take off some of the slower ones so we’re staying ahead of the curve on what customers want,” he said.

“For Sushi Fresh, as soon as we started mentioning that to people last year, there was heaps of excitement about those guys coming in here.”

Also, among the festivities were face painting, doughnut decorating, and Just Raptors in store teaching onlookers about birds of prey.

Meanwhile, the Geraldton Buccaneers were also part of the fun, shooting hoops with kids.