Silver Ferns keep focus in Glasgow amid future fears
Joanna Guelas |
New Zealand captain Karin Burger says the Silver Ferns are resigned to “trusting” work will be done to save the nation’s embattled netball league.
NZ stars are balancing a Commonwealth Games campaign in Glasgow and fears they could soon be unemployed, with the ANZ Premiership reportedly close to collapsing.
Netball New Zealand is forecasting a loss of $NZ3.7 million ($A3 million) for the league, having resorted to its cash reserves to prop it up.
The competition does not have a broadcast deal for next year, despite TVNZ reportedly attracting 1.05 million unique television viewers this season – a 16 per cent increase from 2025.
Despite the uncertainty, the Silver Ferns hit the ground running in Glasgow by steamrolling hosts Scotland 74-44 at the Hydro on Saturday evening (AEST).
Burger, who played in Australia’s Super Netball league with Sunshine Coast Lightning this season, said the Games provided an opportunity to “advocate for ourselves”.
“Considering where we’ve been and where we are now, it’s very disappointing,” Burger said.
“We can only do what we do and play a good game out there and advocate for ourselves.
“And somehow, in some shape or form, whatever that is that we can do to get the sport back to where it was or even higher, we’ll put our hands up to do that.
“We know that we’ve got a job to do right now, and if that distracts us, it takes us away from being able to experience this and give our all in this one.
“So we’re trusting that there’s work being done in the background.”
Diamonds midcourter Jamie-Lee Price expressed her sympathy for Australia’s cross-Tasman rivals, having made her professional debut in 2013 with the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic.
“It would be very stressful for them (Silver Ferns),” Melbourne Mavericks star Price told AAP.
“I hope that we can, or they can, do something to allow the girls to have some kind of competition over there because it is really heartbreaking, knowing where it has come from to where it is now.
“I just hope that lots of people are fighting for it.”
In anticipation of the league’s demise, Netball NZ has scrapped rules preventing Silver Ferns and leading players from joining overseas leagues.
Previously, international representatives needed permission from Netball NZ if they wanted to take up an overseas contract.
There were nine Kiwis involved this year’s Super Netball season.
Five of them were included in New Zealand’s Commonwealth Games 12-player squad: Burger, Grace Nweke, Kate Heffernan, Kelly Jackson and Maddy Gordon.
With an influx of Kiwi players looming, Super Netball is facing its own financial conundrum.
The current Super Netball pay deal is set to expire in September, with nearly 80 per cent of the league’s players saying financial security remains their most significant challenge, according to this year’s annual wellbeing report by the players’ association.
AAP