Marina Go has stepped down as chair of Netball Australia, with the cash-strapped organisation insisting her departure has nothing to do with the sponsorship saga that has engulfed the sport.
The Diamonds have closed ranks after a week of on-court defeats and off-court controversy, heading home on the brink of losing a second straight Constellation Cup for the first time after back-to-back losses to New Zealand.
Netball Australia (NA) on Monday announced Wendy Archer would take over as chairperson with immediate effect, and that Go's move was a "planned transition" that was months in the making.
The handover, with Go remaining on the board, was due to her workload outside of netball.
The change of leadership comes in the midst of a player stoush over a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Gina Rinehardt's Hancock Prospecting.
Players were expected to wear uniforms during this series bearing the logo of the mining company however there's confusion over whether they boycotted the new strip or it wasn't made available to them.
Former Diamonds captain Sharni Norder (nee Layton) also opposes the sponsorship due to Rinehart's climate record, and spoke to the team in the build-up to this series.
Norder said on Monday that the dress issue related to the upcoming home series against England starting Oct 26, where Indigenous goal shooter Donnell Wallam is set to make her Diamonds debut.
Wallam has raised concerns with the company's record on Indigenous matters, which date back 40 years to extreme right wing comments by Rinehart's late father Lang Hancock.
"We have an indigenous player in her very first series, Donnell Wallam, and she's openly said - which is very tough to say by the way as a player in a new organisation representing Australia - that she doesn't feel comfortable wearing Hancock Prospecting because of what has been said in the past," Norder told RSN Radio.
She described the situation as an "embarrassing mess" which wasn't helped by a lack of visibility and communication from NA.
The sports body suffered losses of more than $7 million over two COVID-impacted years, with a $15 million sponsorship deal over four years from Hancock a financial lifeline.
The mining group also sponsors the AOC as well as volleyball, rowing, synchronised swimming and swimming.
The Diamonds have not publicly addressed the spat beyond a written statement acknowledging the need to work through "certain sensitivities" and say the issue will be resolved at the end of the series.
Go did not address the stand-off in a statement on Monday but said she had helped NA make "strong progress" in securing the sport's financial future.
"I am proud of the position Netball Australia is now in," Go said in her statement.
"We have made strong progress on the financial stability of the sport, have secured significant new commercial partners and are continuing to identify and build new opportunities to secure a strong future for the sport.
"In light of the time commitments of the role of chair, I have chosen to step aside as originally planned."
The issue was only briefly touched on by Kiwi journalists after New Zealand's 52-48 win in Tauranga on Sunday, when coach Stacey Marinkovich was asked whether she had been able to maintain focus.
"When we're together as a group, it's all about high performance," she said.
"It's about improvement. It's about our game plan. It's about our connections and culture.
"I'm really pleased with how we're able to be in our little bubble and able to focus on what we need to do out on court."
The Diamonds arrived into Melbourne on Monday ahead of the third Test on Wednesday night.
They will play their first home Tests since 2019, with a sold-out match on the Gold Coast on Sunday to close out the series.
After losing the opening two matches to a sharper Silver Ferns outfit, the Diamonds need two strong wins to claim back the trophy.
