Jaegers On Tenterhooks Over Elite Competition

Newcastle Herald

Wednesday February 28, 2007

By RENEE VALENTINE and AAP

NETBALL NSW general manager Carolyn Campbell will do everything in her power to get the Hunter Jaegers a start in a proposed trans-Tasman competition.

Rumours of the new competition emerged last year, and Netball Australia is expected to make an announcement in mid-March after a meeting with union officials next week.

A New Zealand newspaper reported this week that a 10-team professional league with five teams from each country, excluding the Jaegers, would replace the existing domestic competitions starting next year.

The report said the new league would be bankrolled by pay television Fox Sports in Australia and Sky TV in New Zealand.

Netball Australia refused to confirm the new format but said in a statement it was "in negotiations to finalise details of the shape of an enhanced elite competition for 2008".

The Sunday News newspaper in Auckland said it had seen a copy of the contracts and reported details of the competition and broadcasting deal, believed to be worth $1.5 million a year to Netball New Zealand and Netball Australia with guaranteed prime-time television slots until 2010.

It said the Sydney Swifts, Queensland Firebirds, Adelaide Thunderbirds, Melbourne Phoenix and Perth Orioles were the favoured franchises, leaving out the AIS Canberra Darters, the Melbourne Kestrels and the Jaegers.

Campbell said Netball NSW, which runs the Jaegers, "knew nothing" but would be "endeavouring to have two teams in the competition, whatever the competition may be".

Campbell plans to use the Jaegers' crowd-pulling power, media coverage and corporate support in the Hunter if she must state their case for inclusion in a trans-Tasman league.

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Jaegers on tenterhooks over inclusion in elite contest

From Page 80

The Jaegers have enjoyed the best crowds in the national league in all three seasons since joining the competition.

"Our Hunter Jaegers have enjoyed the best media coverage support out of all of the teams in the league, our crowd numbers are the highest in the league and we have a very good supporter base because we're the only regional team who competes in the competition," Campbell said.

"That, coupled with the high level of community support, goes very well. We've been told we'll know something by mid-March, and if we've got to generate a business plan for that, it has to happen fairly quickly.

"But put all of those things I just mentioned together and I think we've got a very good case if we need to fight their case. To me it's an easy sell, given what we've got."

The Jaegers finished equal fifth in their first season and equal fourth in season two, only missing the play-offs with an inferior goal difference to the Kestrels.

They had their worst season last year with just two wins in 14 outings, despite some strong performances against the league's top teams.

Australia's netball community has given a mixed and cautious reaction to the prospect of the professional trans-Tasman competition.

Elite players, who now earn between about $2000 and $5000 a year, would finally reap financial rewards from the new league.

But former Australian captain and current Queensland Firebirds coach Vicky Wilson warned it had implications for the depth of talent developed at elite level.

"When you've got eight teams reduced to five, that's 30 players less being exposed on the international stage," she said. "What will it mean for those teams and coaches who will miss out? I think they'll be having a lot of sleepless nights."

Kestrels coach Jane Searle said Netball Victoria would push for two Victorian teams in the competition, and, if not successful, the best players from the Phoenix and Kelstrels would be selected.

For long-time Australian player and Swifts shooter Catherine Cox, a trans-Tasman league is well overdue.

She said she was confident Netball Australia would find an adequate structure for the teams that missed out.

"It's about time Australia and New Zealand have the best domestic competitions in the world," Cox said.

"We have always known that we have had the products; it's just been about finding the right way to put it in the right direction."

Cox also dismissed criticism that the league would widen the gulf between the trans-Tasman rivals ranked one and two in the world and other netball nations.

Australian Netball Players Association spokesman John-Paul Blandthorn said a number of issues would need to be considered, including sponsorship and monetary aspects, before the plan was given the green light.

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Editorial

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© 2007 Newcastle Herald

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