Australian netball headed for fresh ugly pay dispute, with two thirds of players voicing concerns
With 12 months until every Super Netball player in the league is again off contract, the sport is set to be rocked by a pay war just three years after the ugly dispute which cost the former Netball Australia boss her job.
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A change of leadership alone may not be enough to ensure Netball Australia’s next collective bargaining negotiations are smooth sailing, with more than two-thirds of Super Netball players rating financial security and fair pay their most pressing concern.
The poisonous and protracted pay war between the governing body and the Australian Netball Players Association (ANPA) in 2023 ultimately cost former NA boss Kelly Ryan her job.
But with just over a year until every player in the league is again off contract and questions about expansion and a new broadcast deal still unanswered, negotiating a new Collective Player Agreement won’t be an easy job.
ANPA has completed its first annual wellbeing survey for players, with results showing 69 per cent of respondents ranked financial security and fair pay as a challenge - the top concern for the playing group.
In a statement, the ANPA said that ranking reflected “ongoing issues around salary equity, job stability, cost of living pressures, and the need for supplementary income through work outside netball”.
A Code Sports survey carried out in 2022 found 72 per cent of respondents felt the game was not doing enough to protect the mental health and wellbeing of its players.
And mental health was a key focus of the ANPA poll, with 56 per cent of players revealing they had accessed mental health support services in the past year, while 81 per cent would be likely to seek support for mental health or wellbeing issues if needed.
Most players (86%) felt their clubs provided adequate support to balance their professional duties and personal lives but two-thirds (67%) felt mentally or emotionally drained due to the demands of elite netball.
But in a response that highlighted why ongoing issues and the next pay deal could present a challenge, just 12 per cent of players said they were comfortable raising issues with NA, as opposed to 92 per cent with teammates and 86 per cent with ANPA.
NA had worked to rebuild trust with its playing group following the last pay deal but there remained dissatisfaction in some quarters with the investigation into a formal complaint made by former Firebirds player Remi Kamo about the club and players will need to be kept closely in the loop in upcoming talks around the strategic direction of the sport and the future of Super Netball.
The anonymous ANPA survey, designed to support player health, performance and satisfaction, gathered thoughts on mental, emotional, cultural and professional wellbeing, with the results set to guide targeted support strategies for athletes.
ANPA has shared and discussed each Super Netball team’s results with both management and players.
VIXENS SEE SPORTS PSYCH
Vixens defender Kate Eddy has revealed how the players held group sessions with a sports psychologist to help digest the “shock” of Simone McKinnis’ announcement that she would stand down as head coach at the end of the season.
McKinnis dropped a bombshell in May when she revealed this season would be her last in the role after 13 years at the helm at the Vixens.
The Vixens slumped to a 12-goal loss at home to the Sunshine Coast Lightning the week they learned of McKinnis’ decision, which she announced publicly after the match.
McKinnis described the performance against the Lightning post-match as “flat” and “lifeless” and suggested the team needed to “go to the pub”.
The Vixens have been undefeated since then, including victories over top-four rivals NSW Swifts and the Lightning.
Now Eddy has revealed the players held sessions with a sports psychologist the week after the McKinnis news to help them “move on” from the initial shock.
The star wing defence said the group had been able to share some “open and honest” chats, which had contributed to their form turnaround.
“Our (round six) game against the Sunshine Coast was the week that we found out and I feel like we definitely played like something bad had happened,” Eddy said.
“That’s not something we pride ourselves on. We pride ourselves on being able to leave everything off the court and to be able to go on the court and be able to do a job.
“I feel like there was just like releasing the shackles and a weight off our shoulders after the news of Simone.
“We had a lot of really honest chats away from the court. We had a few psych sessions and that was a really good opportunity to talk and let out our emotions about how we were feeling about the situation and just be able to learn to move on.
“We work with a sports psyche, so we have a team psych and he just came in and helped us run our sessions …. that was really handy for us to talk about it and move on from that.
“Like we can’t change anything (about it) so just being able to move on and get around each other and just find the joy in netball again.”
The Vixens officially opened up the search for their new head coach last week.
FERNS TO MAKE ELIGIBILITY CALL
Netball New Zealand has indicated it will soon make a call soon on its eligibility policy, which is set to impact NSW Swifts’ star Grace Nweke’s ongoing Super Netball involvement.
Nweke’s decision to play across the ditch for the Swifts has ruled her ineligible to play for the Silver Ferns this year under the nation’s strict international eligibility rules.
Netball New Zealand’s current policy has been in place to ensure the nation’s top netballers opted to play in New Zealand’s domestic league, the ANZ Premiership, in order to play for the Silver Ferns.
But with the Commonwealth Games and the Netball World Cup on the horizon in the next two years, the governing body’s decision on eligibility will have a major impact on Nweke’s next move.
NNZ chief executive Jennie Wyllie confirmed the policy was being reviewed.
“That’s something that goes hand-in-hand with a lot of our moving parts at the moment, but it’s under consideration and we’ve made good progress on a direction of travel there,” Wyllie told RNZ.
“Still a bit too early to talk to that, we have a lot of stakeholders that we need to work with in the first instance.
“Our board understand that, to give our players certainty for the coming year across our system, we need to be able to do this before we go into player contracting, post ANZ Premiership.
“The board are taking it under consideration, the time frames will be conducive to allow clarity for everyone that needs it, when they are making contracting decisions for 2026.”
KELPIES COACH STEPS BACK
Australian men’s head coach Nerida Stewart will step down from duties with the Kelpies as she continues her rise through the ranks of elite netball coaching across both men’s and women’s competition.
The former Fever assistant, now Julie Fitzgerald’s right-hand woman at the Giants, took on the Kelpies role in 2022 and continued the dominance of a program that has an unbeaten series record in its four-decade history.
Australian Men’s and Mixed Netball Association (AMMNA) international director Clare McCabe said Stewart’s departure was a big loss for the men’s category but a huge gain for the world’s best league.
AMMNA will now search for a new head coach to usher in the next phase of growth as the men push towards World Cup inclusion and Olympic involvement.
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Originally published as Australian netball headed for fresh ugly pay dispute, with two thirds of players voicing concerns
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