“This is the biggest participation sport in the country [for women]. Everyone’s going to press the button to download it, then watch it for free. For God’s sake, let’s go.”
Amid the self-congratulatory speeches at the launch of this year’s Super Netball season at Crown Melbourne, a comment by Foxtel Group chief executive Patrick Delany revealed a tension familiar to sporting administrators.
Those remarks last week by the boss of the league’s new broadcast partner – referring to fans being able to watch games free each Sunday via Kayo Freebies – ostensibly laid much of the potential success or failure of the five-year deal at the feet of another party; the tens of thousands of Australians who play netball, but historically haven’t watched it.
Throwaway line or not, it felt a little pre-emptively accusatory, especially given the myriad challenges facing codes in even getting a season run and won in Covid times.
Then, of course, there is Fox’s role in attracting that grassroots netball cohort long considered an untapped market, as well as new viewers on a platform that is vastly different to free-to-air TV – the league’s home for five years.
Netball Australia chief executive Kelly Ryan did not quite know how to follow Delany’s call to arms at the launch but said Super Netball was determined to “continue to realise its absolute potential as a tier-one sport”, including by finding new ways with Fox to present the sport.
“Additional content shows is something we asked Fox for, and they said absolutely no problems,” Ryan said. “We said, ‘can you broadcast all games every weekend?’ They said absolutely no problems. We said, ‘can you change the time slots so they’re not in the middle of a Saturday when our entire participation base is actually playing the sport?’ And they said no problems.
“‘Can you make sure that every Sunday is free and accessible to anybody that wants to watch it?’ Absolutely no problems. To say that we’re excited about starting this partnership is an understatement.”
With the pre-season Team Girls Cup played in Melbourne at the weekend – the first time the tournament has been held since 2019 – that partnership was on show for the first time and it became clear what issues (beyond fans simply pressing a button) the league will manage in 2022.
Principally, predictably, is the ongoing impact of Covid.
Before the tournament even began on Friday the reigning premiers, the NSW Swifts, revealed their coach Briony Akle would not travel after being identified as a close contact and having to isolate.
By Sunday afternoon, with their replacement coach Bec Bulley ill, two injured players, shooters Helen Housby and Sam Wallace, coached the nine-woman Swifts to a 41/27 drubbing at the hands of the Giants in the fight for last place. Other clubs were also impacted by isolation.
Pre-season tournament or not, it was a terrible look for the league and something that could be repeated during the season given match-day squads remain at 10 contracted players and do not include training partners.
Swifts co-captain Paige Hadley and Collingwood star Kelsey Browne have both called on extended squads to be introduced for the season, which begins on March 26.
The Swifts have four teammates who live together and another three in one household, Hadley explained. “It is nerve-racking,” she said. “We could lose three players [in one go] with a close contact and that leaves you with seven players for a match. I’d like to see extended squads for sure.”
With Collingwood having already had a pre-season match cancelled after Covid decimated the Queensland Firebirds, Browne too wants clubs to have more players to select from.
“We saw with the Firebirds, one person had it, they trained with the team, and then three more people had it … it’s so contagious,” she said. “If there’s any year that we see extended squads, I would love for it to be this year.”
How the league approaches Covid-enforced forfeits is another key question, especially given the fixture was built to end in early July to accommodate the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, leaving little room for re-fixturing.
On the court, a scary-good Melbourne Vixens side, without their starting shooters Mwai Kumwenda, who was isolating, and star recruit Keira Austin, who is still working her way back from ACL surgery, won the pre-season trophy without dropping a game.
The Victorians, who won the premiership in 2020 but fell to last in 2021 after losing Liz Watson to injury, beat the West Coast Fever 45-43 thanks mainly to steady-headed youngster Rahni Samason, who shot 30/37, and the midcourt dominance of co-captains Watson and MVP Kate Moloney.
The surprise packet of the tournament was the Adelaide Thunderbirds, who beat the Pies and Giants in early rounds before taking third place with a dominant win over Sunshine Coast Lightning 53/32.
