Collingwood withdraws from Super Netball competition with 2023 season to be the club’s last

Collingwood took a parting shot at Netball Australia after withdrawing from the league, and the league has hit back. Plus, a contender has emerged to replace the Pies.

Netball Victoria has emerged as the frontrunner for an eighth Super Netball licence after Collingwood withdrew from the competition on Thursday taking a parting shot at Netball Australia.

But NA hit back in a tit for tat, expressing their disappointment at the Pies’ mudslinging and denying more could have been done to keep the foundation Super Netball club.

Magpies chief executive Craig Kelly confirmed the decision everyone in the sport had been expecting on Thursday afternoon, saying Collingwood would withdraw its Super Netball licence following a club review focussed on the viability of its netball program.

Kelly said the Magpies - who entered the competition as a foundation club in 2017 under the Collingwood banner and not under the umbrella of Netball Victoria - met with Netball Australia “on multiple occasions to explore potential solutions” but had reached the conclusion the program was not sustainable.

NA chief executive Kelly Ryan confirmed the governing body had several conversations with the Magpies but there were conflicting priorities for the football club.

The Magpies have withdrawn their Super Netball license amid financial struggle. Picture: Getty

“We’ve tried to broker as many proactive conversations as we can with Collingwood and played whatever necessary supporting role that we can in those conversations but I think it is clear that they have wanted to prioritise their footballing program, so I’m not sure what other support we could potentially have provided at this time,” Ryan said.

“(It’s) very disappointing.”

It’s understood the Magpies were seeking funding from either, or both, of Netball Australia and the Victorian Government to continue their netball program.

Ryan did not answer directly when asked whether the club had asked for additional support.

But she said there was no more, or less, money available to support individual clubs.

“I think everyone’s pretty clear on where our financial situation is at, so we would offer them no more assistance than we’d offer one of the other seven license holders,” Ryan said.

“That’s the model that we operate. In terms of the funding that we already provide the teams, that’s done on an equitable basis, so they would still absolutely … receive that same amount of funding, that was still always the commitment from us.

“Any additional funding? That’s not really for the league to go down the path of making those decisions.”

Inside the dysfunctional and damaging history of @collingwoodsn which continues to fail.

Part one of @LindaCPearce's investigation 👉 https://t.co/vbPe5QuPSp#SSN2023pic.twitter.com/AbPH9jCxzx

— CODE Netball (@CodeNetball) May 16, 2023

While Ryan has acknowledged in the past the size of the commercial market and strength of netball in Victoria meant it would be preferable to have two teams in the state, she said it was not now in the best interest of the sport to limit where an eighth franchise could come from.

“I think as we sit here now, I think it’s probably in the sport’s best interest to put too many limiting factors around what the eighth license could look like,” she said.

“So I think we stay open minded, we work through a process of having conversations with a variety of different stakeholders and the decision will be made once we’ve got all the information, the facts and we’ll build a license model that we think is good for the sport and good for the competition.

“And then we’ll work through the ownership structure of that license when it seems relevant.”

That opens for the door for Netball Tasmania, who already pour almost $1m a year into the sport through their partnership with Collingwood that delivers both pre-season and in-season Super Netball matches.

But Netball Victoria has also emerged as a contender.

Collingwood and Netball Victoria had an at-times fractious relationship, although Ryan described it as a “working relationship”.

The state body released a statement on Thursday afternoon saying it respected Collingwood’s decision not to renew its licence and knew it was not a decision the Magpies had taken lightly.

But it also confirmed that it was working with Netball Australia to ensure there were pathways for Victorian players, with the Magpies decision not a reflection on the health of the game in the state.

Collingwood was a “better place for having had a netball team” according to CEO Craig Kelly. Picture: Getty

“We believe having two Victorian-based SSN (Super Netball) teams is important if we are to develop and retain the best netballers in this state and continue to encourage grassroots participation,” a Netball Victoria statement said.

“Victoria has the depth of players, officials and administrators, as well as the passionate netball fanbase, to enable two SSN teams to compete successfully, on and off the court.”

Netball Victoria CEO Andrea Pearman said: “We firmly believe Victoria has the talent and the fanbase to sustain two teams at the elite level and we are working closely with Netball Australia and the Victorian Government on the best way forward”.

Netball Tasmania has been particularly bullish on their intent to apply for any licence that becomes available, although Ryan confirmed the league’s broadcast contract with Foxtel had stipulations on “commitments around locations”, which News Corp understands to be two teams in Melbourne.

“Foxtel will be incredibly important stakeholder in all of these conversation, so we won’t make any decisions … Foxtel will be involved every step of the way,” Ryan said.

“So that will be an important consideration definitely.

“There are definitely contractual commitments around locations but as with any contract and great working partnership, just because it’s in paper doesn’t mean you can’t change the terms of that contract.

“So we will work very closely with Foxtel and we will collaborate and build a model that we think will work for the sport because if it works for the sport it works for us and it works for them.”

Originally published as Collingwood withdraws from Super Netball competition with 2023 season to be the club’s last