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Interesting article despite the usual word soup from Taurua. Not sure what she’s getting at. NNZ’s failure to innovate ie introduce the two point shot etc means the nz game is very stodgy and slow moving to watch. Sky tv nz have clearly decided to back basketball, both mens and women’s, rather than netball. It was announced last week that the nz women’s basketball league had doubled its funding and the women were going to be earning more than the men’s players!
The women’s basketball league has been moved to the wnba off season to try and attract top wnba players here and international teams have been invited to play in the nz women’s league. Clearly sky is transferring their funding and focus from netball to nz basketball. The men’s basketball is also going from strength to strength and is exciting to watch with 11 teams in the league.
Anyway will be interesting to see how Nweke and a few others get on down the track in the Aussie league.
I read this article the other day and thought a weird amount about it ????
Hoping some of our Aussie friends read this thread.
To save you reading the full article, the jist is NNZ have allegedly accepted a significantly reduced 1 year broadcasting deal with Sky (2025 only) – “…cutting broadcast revenue from $8 million to $4m.”
Additionally, Dana Johannesen (who if you don’t know, is probably our version of Linda Pearce in NZ, amazing netball coverage over the years) says RNZ (the publication she writes for) “understands NNZ has approached its trans-Tasman counterparts about securing up to three franchise licenses in the Australian league”.
So, if that were the case, IMO the teams would be
– Northern (amalgamating the Mystics and Stars)
– Central (Magic and Pulse)
– South (Tactix and Steel)I’ve put together a current top 30 list of New Zealand players (those currently playing for ANZP sides – not including injury replacements or those in Aus) to ‘fill’ roster spots for 3x teams of 10.
My list of in/out players.
I wrote all the team lists and then went through and highlighted names without trying to hit 30 per se. It’s also not an even 10/10/10 spread either as you can see.
Shooters
In (10)
Mystics: Nweke
Stars: Malesala, Wilson
Magic: Ekenasio, Tui
Pulse: Metuarau, Walmsley
Tactix: Dunn, TPSR
Steel: G. HeffernanOut (7)
Mystics: Hannah Glen, Vui
Stars: Samason
Magic: Ivana Rowland
Pulse: Khiarna Williams (unlucky..)
Steel: Fisher (nb, haven’t included any of the imports in my top 30), NamanaMidcourt
In (11)
Mystics: Earle, Toeava
Stars: MRB
Magic: NA
Pulse: Gordon, F. Ioane, Souness
Tactix: Lokotui, Poi, Sinclair
Steel: K. Heffernan, SaundersOut (11)
Mystics: Katie Te Ao
Stars: Lisa Mather, Emma Thompson
Magic, Reeghan de Bono, Georgie Edgecombe (tough), Claire O’Brien, Ali Wilshier
Pulse: Parris Petera
Tactix: Pedersen (marginal)
Steel: Ivari Christie, Savai’inaeaDefence
In (9)
Mystics: Catherine Hall, Karaka, MSB, Stythe
Stars: Burley
Magic: NA
Pulse: Kelly Jackson, Paris Mason
Tactix: Burger, Watson
Steel: NAOut (11)
Mystics: NA
Stars: Fowler, Khanye Munro-Nanoa, Lili Tokaduadua
Magic: Maihi, Mikaere, Takarangi
Pulse: Kelea Iongi
Tactix: Kate Lloyd
Steel: Fifita, Abby Lawson, Jeante StrydomLove this @Wewood
I did a similar post on another thread (can’t remember which one, it was long ago). I did 4 strong NZ teams to play in the SSN.
If we are going with three:
Team 1
Nweke Malesala Samason
Toeava Earle MRB MSB
Karaka Stythe Burley
*WilsonTeam 2
Walmsley Ekenasio Metaurua
Souness Gordon Ione Fowler
Jury Temu Mason
*LokotuiTeam 3
Dunn TPSR Heffernan
Poi Saunders Heffernan Pederson
Watson Burger Maihi
*FifitaAgree with your picks wewood.
Thank goodness you’ve included Dunn and Toeva, since Taurua continues to overlook them when they are right up there. Would be very interested to see how they do against the Aussies/rest of the world since Taurua won’t give them a chance to show their wares, citing her usual put down ie fitness reasons…Btw where is Hilary Poole, the former NNZ ceo who made the call to tell the suncourt league it was 6 nz teams or nothing a few years ago. I guess you can put that down to a failed exercise going it alone with an nz league. Look where we are now because of her leadership.
- This reply was modified 2 weeks, 1 day ago by Kwkiwi. Reason: Spelling
Oh I like the Taceel (Tactix Steel) team. And regarding Basketball, I can’t stand them game.
Even if SSN is in a position to add another 3 teams (would probably be 4 with an additional Australian team), I wonder if NNZ would be in a position to find the external sponsorship necessary to bring up the salaries and pay for all other associated costs. The transport and broadcasting costs would also increase dramatically. It doesn’t seem feasible.
I expect the NZ teams would also have a lot of Australian and international imports, so there would probably be around 15-20 NZL players in the league rather than 30.
The more logical solution is just to let the best Ferns play SSN and then ANZ Premiership can be merged with Beko as a semi-professional league similar to VSNL in the UK.
Revealed: The secret talks that could transform Australian netball
Top NZ players need to be challenged and AUS could benefit from the commercial gains and interests. 2026 feels ages away.
If NZ were to produce 3 teams, I highly doubt they would have any room for imports. Maybe team 3 could go for a target GS? Other than that, NZ will have enough players to field 3 strong teams.
I wonder if NNZ would put rules in place to keep NZ players playing for a NZ franchise. Cause I’m thinking, if they did allow this new comp to happen, NZ players could easily sign up to any Aus franchise. Which will push out fringe Aus players, who may go to sign up to NZ teams. Nek minit we have three NZ teams with fringe Aus and leftover NZ players, who get thrashed each week.
Agree @TB – NNZ would ring fence those 30 spots plus training partner positions to Ferns eligible players.
Like I commented on the other thread, there would nothing stopping Kiwi players plying their trade for an Australian team, but they would forgo Ferns selection.
I doubt Foxtel or Netball Australia will allow NZL teams to join SSN with different conditions to the Aus teams. It’s not even about making sure they’re competitive, but simply to generate interest in the teams. Imports are very popular, and Australian viewers are not going to be that interested in watching fully Kiwi teams playing each other. And NA won’t like NNZ benefitting from SSN without having to sacrifice local pathways. Unless they come with an enormous cash injection, I doubt it will happen under those terms.
What’s the point of NZ joining if their teams (which is just 3) are going to be littered with imports? It defeats the purpose.
Well that’s kind of my point, I don’t think it is worth it.
NNZ wants to use elite competition to build pathways. NA wants to build the profile of netball as a sport and increase professionalism, sacrificing pathways and traditional rules in favour of commercial viability. They are completely different objectives, so it doesn’t make sense for NA to accept NNZ under those conditions or for NNZ to join the SSN in its current form. The only way around it that I can see is if Sky comes with a lot of money for three NZL teams, but that seems unlikely.
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