Just 16 days remain before the first pass of the World Cup, and Super Netball players are still stuck in limbo, waiting for the opportunity to lock down their career plans for 2024.
After the Collingwood Magpies chose not to renew their team player agreement (TPA) next season for financial reasons, the opportunity for a new club to join the league opened in May, as per the current broadcast agreement that runs until the end of 2026 and requires eight teams to compete.
The deadline for submissions was 5pm on June 20 and the turnaround has been so rushed that at least four parties withdrew their interest, including Netball Tasmania and businessman Geoff Lord, who both waited until the final hour to announce they were dropping out.
That night, Netball Australia released an update, stating submissions had officially closed and that the appointed sub-committee hoped to make an announcement within the next fortnight.
The process is now eight days beyond that deadline.
Without an eighth team in place, the collective player agreement (CPA) due to expire at the end of September cannot be renegotiated and none of the other seven Super Netball clubs can start signing players for next season.
As it stands, the ABC understands there are just two parties left in the race — Netball Victoria’s regional proposal, and Craig Hutchison’s Sport Entertainment Group bid.
Netball Victoria, who already own three-time premiership winners the Melbourne Vixens, would be looking to establish their Super Netball second team in the western corridor of the state, appealing to the large participation base around Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, and keeping competition away from Vixens’ heartland.
The problem is that a home venue up to professional standards is unlikely to become available until at least 2027 in that area, after they’ve been built and used for the next Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile, Hutchison’s focus is firmly locked on Melbourne, which is said to appeal to broadcast partners Foxtel, making it logistically easier and cheaper for them to cover games.
Netball Australia chief executive Kelly Ryan would not divulge any details about the sub-committee’s preferences but did tell the ABC that the governing body had been too ambitious with its timelines.
Ryan has been adamant that an eighth team would be finalised and all TPAs, as well as the CPA, would be sorted before the World Cup, allowing players to concentrate on their international commitments.
The lagging announcement on the incoming side is expected to be held up by several legal issues. Once sorted, the news could be fast-tracked as soon as Friday.
“We set ourselves a really ambitious target, so it’s not necessarily a delay, it’s just the process is quite complex and taking on a team licence within a really short period of time is obviously really challenging,” Ryan said.
“We want to make sure we get it right because we’re trying to futureproof the sport, so it’s just taking a little bit longer than we had hoped and we think it’s necessary for us to do the right amount of due diligence to find the right stakeholder.
“I’m nervous to set another timeline, because I’ve already passed the last one, but we’re incredibly conscious of the World Cup and players being off contract, so our number one goal is to complete the process ASAP and we’re confident we can still meet that deadline.”
Ryan was also asked about this weighing on player’s minds, as the Australian Diamonds face enormous pressure to win back the World Cup crown from New Zealand.
“There’s been a number of conversations with our athletes, in particular those in the Diamonds environment and whilst it’s not ideal, they’re really comfortable with where the process is, and we’ll keep informing them and giving them as much information as possible,” she said.
“Clearly, we would love to be able to swing into full action around everything else that depends on finalising the eighth license, but everybody knows and appreciates the complexity here, and they want us to get it right.”
However, news has again been building of player unrest, with athletes frustrated and unsure about their living arrangements and financial situations for the back-end of the year.
For imports, that concern is heightened, with uncertainty if and who their rehab would be covered by should they sustain an injury at the major tournament.
Netball Australia was exploring its options for a fallback plan to offer Super Netball athletes further salary payments beyond September if this were to happen, but no update has been provided on that.
Another worry has been the impact on working visas and residency for those overseas players, who could potentially leave for the World Cup and be blocked from coming back into the country until further employment is secured.
Managing director at Apex Netball Agency, Trent Tavoletti, who manages 18 netballers from Australia, England, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, said some of his athletes are considering leaving the Super Netball competition to look elsewhere for opportunity.
The signing period for the UK Superleague finishes at the end of this working week, so even if Netball Australia was to confirm the eighth licence within the next 24 hours, it likely would not help.
Communication with agents in June dictated the need to give the new franchise a maximum of 14 days to get settled before it could begin non-binding conversations with players.
The New Zealand Premiership contract window already closed on July 2, meaning it is England or nothing for some of these players – but they won’t find out until it might be too late.
Tavoletti said it would be impossible to start the signing period until after the World Cup and that the idea players are satisfied with that arrangement is untrue.
“That’s completely untrue, we have frustrated players and it’s not just the Diamonds environment, because there’s 15 Diamonds off to the World Cup but we have 80 players in total off contract in the premier netball league in the world – there’s a hell of a lot of imports,” Tavoletti said.
“They can’t just talk about conversations they’re having with Diamonds athletes because I know there are conversations that have been held with Geva Mentor for instance, where she’s expressed her concerns on a regular basis about how much this is affecting her.
“I’ve got players sitting on deadlines who have to make a decision by Friday night whether they’re going to sign with a club in England or take a gamble, wait and risk going into the wider pool to be signed by another club.
“They should have made this decision and offered more clarity around it a long time ago, and now the players are the ones at risk … there are some senior players that could leave Super Netball in order to sign overseas.”
Netball Australia is adamant it will share the news as soon as it has determined the eighth licence.