Diamonds great Bianca Chatfield says Netball Australia (NA) needs to consult more with its players regarding sponsors, as discussions continue over Hancock Prospecting’s backing of the national team.
Key points:
- Bianca Chatfield says Netball Australia and the players had a good relationship in the past
- Netball Australia announced a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Hancock Prospecting last month
- Hancock was supposed to appear on the Diamonds kit but was absent on Wednesday
Chatfield, a 59-time capped Diamond, said modern athletes “are just not going to put up with” sponsors that do not sit comfortably with them, amidst a stoush between the Diamonds and NA.
Last month, NA announced a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Hancock Prospecting, owned by billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart.
The sponsorship, continuing until the end of 2025, was set to go towards the sport’s high-performance program.
Hancock Prospecting was set to feature on their uniforms as part of the deal.
However, in Wednesday’s defeat to New Zealand in the opening game of the Constellation Cup, the Diamonds wore an old strip with no reference to Hancock Prospecting.
Chatfield said the situation had been “brewing in the background” for a while.
“I think it all comes down to that — when Netball Australia signed their partnership and their new deal with Hancock — it just wasn’t communicated to the playing group,” she told ABC Sport.
“The playing group just weren’t aware of it and all of a sudden they’re told that this logo goes on their dress.
“When people dig a little bit deeper and understand everyone’s values and what they believe in and what they’re committed to … there just needed to be some open dialogue around what it means to everybody and is everybody OK with that.
“I don’t think we’re getting to the stage where you need players agreeance on everything, but you certainly need to keep players in the loop about what’s happening.
“For anyone who is concerned about the environment, there’s issues there, and that the players just wanted to be able to have some kind of understanding first and awareness before they were told that they had to wear that logo on their dress.”
Former skipper Sharni Norder told Fox Sports she had given the players advice on how to approach the sponsorship situation.
“I did a Zoom [call] with the players just to educate them on doing right by the sport but also doing right by yourself and honouring your own values,” Norder said.
“I just wanted to have a conversation — is that money worth your reputation and what you stand for as a person?
“Just so they are making good decisions for themselves, because they represent the clubs and our country but also themselves.”
At the time of the deal being announced, Norder wrote on Twitter that it was “unacceptable to put our brand alongside an open climate denier” and that Hancock’s “profit at all cost attitude puts our future in danger”.
Chatfield, a former president of the players association, said previously there was “a lot of collaboration” between the team and NA regarding commercial matters.
“Maybe [in other sports] it’s just the head organisation that just gets on with it and gets the sponsors,” she said.
“But in our sport, it’s always been about these conversations and making sure the players are aware.
“Maybe it is the modern-day athlete as well, who has a chance to actually speak up and say what they believe in and not put up with things that don’t sit comfortably with them.
“You can’t just expect people to accept it and move on and do what’s right for the sponsor or the sport, unless they’ve had some kind of communication and being made aware of what’s happening.
“I think it’s just a new era in sport and athletes are just not going to put up with it.”