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NETBALL FINAL RESULT IS “FINAL”
CAROLINE OVERINGTON
The AgeThe result of the Adelaide Garville-Adelaide Contax Netball Superleague final will stand regardless of the outcome of yesterday’s appeal by Garville. The national executive director of the All Australian Netball Association, Pam Smith, said there was no way the score would change, even if Garville could prove it had been robbed of victory.
Smith said association rules did not provide for a review of match scores and video evidence could not be considered. “We will certainly view the video because I would like to see for myself what happened but Contax will remain champions, whatever happens,” Smith said.
Garville was beaten in overtime by three goals. The official score was 61-58. However, Garville believes it won by two goals. The electronic scoreboard changed from 42-40 in favor of Garville to 41-41 in the last quarter. Garville coach Pat Mickan watched a video of the final quarter and believes her team should have won. She said the team would consider legal action if Garville was not awarded the Prime Minister’s Cup.
“The system is unfair and undemocratic and we have to challenge a system which allows these things to happen. We can show the AANA the video, we can count the number of goals we scored, show them the scorecard is wrong.”
Smith said video evidence would not be considered because it “opened up a whole range of different problems”. “We can’t have teams looking at the videos are saying: Oh, that wasn’t a goal’ or That was a goal we didn’t get.’ The debate would never end,” she said.
But Mickan said the battle was not over an umpire’s decision: “We would never criticise an umpire because umpiring is always subjective. You expect, when you go into a game, that the umpire will make decisions with which you don’t agree. However, we do not accept that a game should be decided on the human error of a scorekeeper.”
Netball scores are recorded by an official scorekeeper, who is aided by a “caller” who calls out goals as they are scored. Mistakes can happen when the caller gives incorrect information, or looks away from the match for a moment and misses a goal. Similarly, the scorekeeper could record a Contax goal as a Garville goal or vice versa.
Contax coach Margaret Angove said it would be a sad day for netball if Garville took the matter to court. “You can’t change the score now. We believe we won fairly and within the rules and that is all that matters.”
Angove said the team would not hand victory to Garville even if video evidence proved Garville had won. “If we had been two goals down, we would have played differently. We would not consider a replay either. It’s like a bad umpiring decision: you just have to wear it.”
You decide: The ABC will screen 60 of the 74 minutes of the controversial Garville-Contax Superleague grand final from 5pm on Saturday.
THE Melbourne Keas, Victoria’s sole representative in the Superleague, will protest against the decision not to allow a second Melbourne team to compete. Keas co-coach Leanne Mackie said a second team should be allowed because Melbourne had done well to finish third. “It’s crazy to have two teams from Sydney when one of them came fourth and the other didn’t even make the finals series,” Mackie said.
GARVILLE WAS ROBBED OF TITLE – IT’S OFFICIAL
CAROLINE OVERINGTON
The AgeAdelaide Garville was robbed of victory in the netball Superleague grand final last Saturday by a scorekeeper’s error. The official score was 61-58 in favor of Adelaide Contax but should have been 48-46 in favor of Garville. The All Australian Netball Association admitted the error yesterday.
Executive director Pam Smith said the incorrect result would stand and Contax would keep the Prime Minister’s Cup. “It’s pointless trying to make amends now and we don’t have the mechanics to do it,” Smith said. We have to go by the official scorecard even if it was wrong. We will now look at ways of making sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Smith said the mistake had been made in the third quarter. The electronic scoreboard, which changed from 42-40 in favor of Garville to 41-all in the final quarter, had been correct. The game ended with an official 47-47 draw, although the correct score was 48-46. Contax won in overtime.
Garville coach Pat Mickan said yesterday that players were unlikely to let the matter rest because the team wanted the Prime Minister’s Cup. “We are still considering court action, not because we want to punish Contax but because the system is wrong and should be changed,” she said. “If we take it to court, we would have to prove that all the safety checks or scoring checks were not in place and I think we can easily do that since there was only one scorer, who was wrong.”
Contax coach Margaret Angove said both teams must accept the official result or risk damaging the game of netball. “We played to the official score,” she said. “If we had believed we were two goals down, we would have played a different game, as Garville would have. We would have taken more risks and perhaps gone on to win.
“We should remember that neither Garville nor Contax made a mistake. It was an error in the system. What is really sad is that Contax have been robbed of the pleasure and excitement of winning a national netball final. Our players have even been abused. It would be nice if people remembered we played wonderful netball, but nobody is saying that.”
Smith said Contax and Garville players were upset by the outcome. “Garville know they technically should have won and there is nothing they can do about that,” she said. “Also, Contax feel they have been robbed of victory because the scorecard has them as the official winners.”
The ABC, which will edit the 74-minute game into a 60-minute program, will show the third and fourth quarters in full.
AMATEUR SPORT MADE TO LOOK AMATEURISH
LINDA PEARCE
The Sunday AgeWELL, well, well. So netball has made a rare visit to the world of prominent headlines and back-page notoriety this past week. It has been discussed with genuine interest by those outside its traditional, devoted core. Overheard in sporting conversations where it has rarely been raised before.
Yet not, sadly, in praise of a superb Superleague grand final between two great rivals in Adelaide last Saturday night. And not, unfortunately, to discuss a magnificent duel between Australian captain Michelle Fielke and her champion national teammate Vicki Wilson. Or an inspiring comeback by new champion Adelaide Contax. Or any number of other highlights.
Instead, the talk has reinforced the cuppa-and-scones reputation that all who administer the sport say they have fought so long to dispel. Farce. Debacle. Fiasco. Schemozzle. Call it what you will. Everyone else has. It has now become clear exactly what happened eight days ago, before 5000 disbelieving patrons at the Adelaide Powerhouse. During the third quarter, the official scorer and the official caller somehow combined to place a goal scored by Adelaide Garville on Adelaide Contax’s side of the sheet.
The three-quarter-time score therefore had Garville trailing 36-37 when in fact it led 37-36, as indicated correctly on the electronic scoreboard. Immediately the scorer, a Sydney-based volunteer, set about reconciling the discrepancy. But she could not. After all, her figures added up. They just added up wrongly.
So when an injury time was called in the last quarter, the stadium board amended Garville’s 42-40 lead to a 41-41 deadlock. And when regular time elapsed, what should have been a 48-46 win was recorded on the sole official scoresheet as 47-47. Garville protested. The fans shrieked. Extra time was played and Contax triumphed 61-58.
All of which was bad enough, with embarrassing confirmation of what most already knew arriving at 6.20pm on Monday when All Australia Netball Association executive director Pam Smith and the ABC’s Colin Nicholson viewed the videotape and the error was identified.
But the damage done since is impossible to quantify. Just as the lead- up to the game was dominated by trivial objections to Contax’s male cheer squad, so the aftermath has ensured that one of the great netball games in the showcase competition, sponsored for $1 million over three years, will be remembered merely, in the words of one prominent official last week, as a complete cock-up”.
The interest of my sports-writing colleagues is usually minimal when I return from a netball event. Perhaps the first exception was the day after the 1991 world championship final, the game that did infinitely more than any other to thrust Australia’s leading female participant sport towards populist credibility. The second was last week. For the opposite reasons.
It is missing the point to argue that at least it is being talked about. There may generally be an element of truth in that old theory, but in this case the attention has merely added to the perception that dear old netball has shot itself in the foot – again.
So, given that the inadequate rules did not provide for prompt viewing of the videotape on Saturday night (that is likely to change) and that apparently neither do they now allow a change of result (perhaps a draw would be the fairest outcome as the Contax players claim they would have played differently had they been behind), or the crowded calendar scope for a replay, where to from here? AANA has admitted its error but dismissed Garville’s appeal and ruled the result will stand.
Still, we now hear that the cause of netball’s problem has been addressed. A system involving three scorers and two callers will be trialled in Canberra next week. While the official scorer will still be required to double as a statistician and record the misses and penalty shots as well as the goals and centre passes, at least there will be cross-reference guides in case of a discrepancy.
Which is all, of course, too late for Garville, whose actions continue to be directed by legal advice and whose appearance in the courts has yet to be ruled out. Even the winners have had a hollow celebration further soured last week by ridiculous public abuse. So the events of last Saturday and the ensuing attention have come at a significant cost. Netballers remain amateur, but their sport has been made to appear foolishly so. It is expensive publicity that all involved can ill-afford.
In 1995, there was another small name change for the competition from Mobil Superleague to simply Mobil League.
1995 MOBIL LEAGUE
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SAME COLOURS, DIFFERENT LEAGUE, FOR THIS SOUTHBY
GABRIELLE COSTA
The AgeDown at Melbourne Waverley Pumas, her coach calls her “junior”. But, at 187 centimetres, 18-year-old Eloise Southby is likely to be the biggest junior netballer playing in the Mobil League this season. Southby, who is the youngest player in the Pumas team (hence the nickname), will make her Mobil League debut tonight in the club’s blue and white colors.
And despite her tender years, Southby is only two centimetres shorter than the tallest player in the league, imposing Sydney Electricity shooter Joanne Morgan. Not that her height is necessarily an advantage. “Taller players shoot the same as everyone else, using the same shooting styles,” she said. “The fact is we are slower than shorter players and we have to constantly work on our speed and agility.”
Originally from North Melbourne club, Southby moved to the Pumas in 1993 when offered a place on the team by coach Norma Plummer. Southby said the pressure this season was not all that great. “The best thing about this series (of the Mobil League) is that we can go out there with nothing to lose. We’re a young side, and they have to prove that they can beat us,” she said.
Southby said the Pumas’ biggest threat came from last year’s finalists, Adelaide teams Garville and Contax, as well as from Sydney Electricity. The rising star, daughter of former Carlton champion Geoff Southby, has played at various age levels for the Australian squad. She was in the under-21 line-up that thrashed Trinidad and Tobago last year and has been chosen for various under-17s and 19s sides.
For Southby, the best possible post-season result would be selection in the under-21 team that will compete for the world championships next year. Another of her goals is to be able to equal the performance of Australia’s premier goal shooter, Adelaide Contax player Vicki Wilson.
Results:
Syd Electricity 79 def Perth Bullets 39
Adel Garville 49 def Adel Contax 39
Syd Electricity 53 def Adel Contax 49
Melb Pumas 59 def Bris Downey 33
Adel Contax 52 def Syd Cenovis 37
Melb Pumas 74 def A.I.S 26
Adel Garville 75 def Perth Bullets 53
Melb Pumas 55 def Adel Garville 54
Perth Bullets 53 def A.I.S 52
Adel Garville 80 def A.I.S 38
Melb Pumas 64 def Perth Bullets 41
Syd Electricity 68 def Bris Downey 40
Adel Contax 60 def A.I.S 29
Adel Contax 55 def Bris Downey 34
Syd Electricity 61 def A.I.S 52
Bris Downey 53 def Perth Bullets 49
Syd Cenovis 58 drew with Perth Bullets 58
A.I.S 52 def Bris Downey 46
Syd Electricity 62 def Syd Cenovis 46
Adel Garville 80 def Bris Downey 33
Syd Cenovis 53 def Bris Downey 36
Adel Garville 66 def Syd Electricity 65
Adel Garville 62 def Syd Cenovis 58
Melb Pumas 46 def Adel Contax 40
Adel Contax 61 def Perth Bullets 56
Melb Pumas 59 def Syd Cenovis 34
Syd Cenovis 58 def A.I.S 44
Syd Electricity 68 def Melb Pumas 45Ladder:
Syd Electricity
Melb Pumas
Adel Garville
Adel Contax
Syd Cenovis
Perth Bullets
A.I.S
Bris Downey.
SEMI-FINALS:
Syd Electricity 63 def Adel Contax 45
Melb Pumas 55 def Adel Garville 533/4 PLAYOFF:
Adel Garville 62 def Adel Contax 46GRAND FINAL:
SYD ELECTRICITY 53 def MELB PUMAS 45
(12-10, 25-20, 40-27, 53-45)SYD ELECTRICITY:
GS . Morgan
GA . Cusack
WA . Kenny
C .. Dalwood
WD . Kosyfas
GD . Finnan
GK . DeveryShooting stats:
Morgan 38/47 80%
Cusack 15/20 75%
TOTAL 53/67 79%MELB PUMAS:
GS . Southby
GA . Arnott
WA . Benison
C .. Dick
WD . McKinnis
GD . Lynch
GK . TavernerShooting stats:
Southby 26/35 74%
Bryant 16/18 88%
Arnott 3/9 33%
TOTAL 45/62 73%.
ELECTRICITY ZAP TO NETBALL CROWN
THE experienced Sydney Electricity team proved too good for the youthful Melbourne Waverley Pumas, winning the national netball league grand final 53-45 at the State Sports Centre last night. Goalkeeper Keeley Devery and goal defence Sharon Finnan were relentless for Sydney.
The tight defensive work of Puma Liz Taverner was not enough to stop Sydney’s brilliant shooting combination of Joanne Morgan (80 per cent) and Nicole Cusack (75 per cent). The shooters co-ordinated their efforts to convert their shots into valuable points.
2nd half of Grand Final thanks to NETBALL FAN
(featuring a sideline commentary stint by a young Liz Ellis)1996 MOBIL LEAGUE
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PUMAS SET FOR NEXT STEP
LINDA PEARCE
The Sunday AgeA new, expanded national league begins next year. Linda Pearce previews the final year of competition as we know it.
WHAT was conceived in 1985 and nurtured through several changes of name and identity is in its death throes. What happens this year will lay to rest the abbreviated form of club-based competition we have come to know, if not love. And so what has been referred to as a national netball league will next year be truly that. The 1996 Mobil League starts at Melbourne’s Waverley netball stadium on Friday night and ends – for this year and for good – at Adelaide’s Powerhouse on 27 May. Then, finally, when the bigger, better and longer version is introduced in 1997, Victoria will get the two-team representation it has long craved and probably deserved.
Yet the new national champion state is not without legitimate hope of farewelling the old format in style. Victorian teams have won only two of the 11 titles decided but its sole representative, Melbourne-Waverley Pumas, surprised most observers in 1995 by reaching the grand final against the vastly more experienced Sydney Electricity.
It lost, but gained plenty. Now, 12 months on, coach Norma Plummer believes her maturing squad has everything required to take the extra step not managed by a local team since the composite Melbourne City in 1990. Last year, the goal was to make the grand final. This year it is to win. “Everyone kept thinking we didn’t really have a chance, possibly because Victorian netball had been at such a low ebb,” she says. That was their perception and actually, it probably suited us, because a lot of the focus wasn’t on us.”
Although the loss of promising young centre Susie Howie, who had foot surgery last week, will be felt, Megan Fleiner returns from a year at the Australian Institute of Sport as a cover for Michelle Benison and Ingrid Dick in the mid-court. Veteran Roselee Jencke has thought better of retiring and will exert the bench pressure on talented defensive duo Liz Taverner and national player of the year Janine Lynch. Toss in the incomparable Simone McKinnis on the wing and it is a defence with few, if any, peers. At the other end, Eloise Southby should continue her march towards higher honors, Southby and goal attack Dani Arnott having shown great poise and composure during Victoria’s drought- breaking national title win.
As ever, apart from defending champion Sydney, the main threats will be the South Australian clubs Contax and Garville, although both will probably be missing key players in Vicki Wilson and Michelle Fielke. Yet, apart from team aspirations, there is also the personal motivation of national selection. In May, the Australian open team for the one-off match against South Africa and the three- Test series against New Zealand will be chosen, as will the under-21 team for the World Youth Cup in Canada in August.
ROUND ONE DRAW, Waverley Netball Stadium – Friday, 1 March: Adelaide Garville v AIS, 7pm; Adelaide Contax v Sydney Cenovis, 9pm. Saturday, 2 March: Fremantle Pumas v Sydney Electricity, 7pm; Melbourne-Waverley Pumas v Queensland Mac-attacks, 9pm.
NETBALL LEAGUE FORMGUIDE.
Sydney Energy: Last year: 1st.
Comment: Same old faces – Kenny, Devery, Finnan, Dalwood, Cusack et al – as well as an even bigger and more formidable Jo Morgan to contend with under the offensive post. Some ageing legs, sure, but again one of the teams to beat.Melbourne-Waverley Pumas: Last year: 2nd.
Comment: Surprised many last year with a gallant run to the grand final. One of the stoutest defences in the competition, complemented by the ever-improving Eloise Southby in attack, and should be better for last year’s experience.Adelaide Garville: Last year: 3rd.
Comment: The temporary loss of Michelle den Dekker (formerly Fielke) to motherhood will dilute Garville’s chances under new coach Deborah Miller despite a formidable front four of Borlase, Avellino, Abbott and Grant.Adelaide Contax: Last year: 4th.
Comment: Champion Vicki Wilson’s recovery, or otherwise, from knee surgery will be crucial to the chances of the 1994 champion. Kathyrn Harby will lead from the back but, despite Jacqui Delaney’s promise, the troubles could be up front.Sydney Cenovis: Last year: 5th.
Comment: Ten of its 16 squad members are under 20, including imported shooter Catherine Cox, but Liz Ellis, Marianne McCormack (nee Murphy) and Catriona Wagg still represent an experienced core. Competitive at worst.Australian Institute of Sport: Last year: 7th.
Comment: One of the big losers in next year’s move to an extended national league. Victorian import Shelley O’Donnell will lead its final fling in the big-time, with World Youth Cup selection a tasty carrot for several squad members.Queensland Mac-Attacks: Last year: 8th.
Comment: Last year’s wooden-spooner has recruited Victorian defender Peta Kennedy to fill the import’s role initially earmarked for South African shooter Irene Van Dyk. Recent form in Melbourne unimpressive. Prefer others.Fremantle Pumas: Last year: -.
Comment: The only new team in the competition, replacing the habitually mediocre Perth Bullets, and coached by former national player Elsma Merillo. Familiar names include Kylie Dirou, Sally Ironmonger and Chelsey Mardon.Results:
Adel Contax 50 def Syd Cenovis 44
Adel Garvill 59 def A.I.S 50
Syd Energy 66 def Fremantle 37
Melb Pumas 71 def Qld Mac-Attacks 32
Adel Garville 69 def Qld Mac-Attacks 45
Melb Pumas 65 def Fremantle 32
Melb Pumas 56 def Adel Garville 49
Fremantle 47 def Qld Mac-Attacks 45
Syd Cenovis 65 def Fremantle 34
Adel Contax 49 def Adel Garville 47
Adel Contax 67 def Fremantle 34
Syd Cenovis 71 def Adel Garville 58
Syd Energy 57 def Melb Pumas 49
Qld Mac-Attacks 44 def A.I.S 40
Melb Pumas 63 def A.I.S 31
Syd Energy 66 def Qld Mac-Attacks 34
Adel Contax 58 def A.I.S 37
Syd Energy 60 def Syd Cenovis 46
Syd Cenovis 70 def A.I.S 43
Syd Energy 52 def Adel Contax 49
Adel Garville %6 def Fremantle 51
Syd Energy 61 def A.I.S 40
Syd Energy 67 def Adel Garville 62
A.I.S 46 def Fremantle 42
Adel Contax 67 def Qld Mac-Attacks 37
Melb Pumas 51 def Syd Cenovis 47
Syd Cenovis 53 def Qld Mac-Attacks 42
Melb Pumas 57 def Adel Contax 41Ladder:
Syd Energy
Melb Pumas
Adel Contax
Syd Cenovis
Adel Garville
Qld Mac-Attacks
A.I.S
Fremantle.
SEMI-FINALS:
Syd Energy ?? def Syd Cenovis ??
Melb Pumas 44 def Adel Contax 43GRAND FINAL:
MELB PUMAS 59 def SYD ENERGY 39
(16-7, 30-17, 43-30, 59-39)Melb Pumas (Southby 31, Bryant 28)
Syd Energy (Morgan 20, Cusack 19)MELB PUMAS:
GS . Bryant
GA . Southby
WA . Benison
C .. Dick
WD . McKinnis
GD . Taverner
GK . LynchSYD ENERGY:
GS . Morgan
GA . Cusack
WA . Kenny
C .. Dalwood
WD . Kosyfas
GD . Finnan
GK . DeveryPUMAS STUN SYDNEY TO TAKE THE CROWN
AAP/The AgeMelbourne Pumas led all the way to upset the favoured Sydney Energy 59-39 in the National Netball League final at the Adelaide Powerhouse on Saturday night. Powering away to a four goal lead in the opening minutes, Melbourne’s determination and strong defence was superior to that of Sydney.
Leading at every change, the Pumas’ glue-like defence, especially goal defence Liz Taverner and goal keeper Janine Lynch, made it difficult for Sydney’s shooters Joanne Morgan and Nicole Cusack to get good shots at goal. Sydney Energy found it hard to keep up with the speed, accuracy and determination of Melbourne, but fought to keep the game close. But in the last quarter, even desperate plays could not stop Melbourne from surging ahead to win by 20 goals.
It was a shock defeat for defending champion Sydney, which went into the finals series undefeated, and there was no victory celebration for coach Carol Sykes after her last game at the premier level. An ecstatic Melbourne coach Norma Plummer said her side had suffered injury setbacks throughout the competition, but had been determined to fight back. “I feel we had such a hard semi last night and we had to catch up,” Plummer said. “We knew the first quarter would be it and the game plan worked, everything worked, it was just our night.”
It was even sweeter for Melbourne, with defenders Liz Taverner and Janine Lynch named players of the final.
From NETBALL FAN
Video:
1985 SA State Grand Final
Tango VS MatricsWinning team gets to represent S.A. to play in the ESSO Australian Netball super league.
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