Super Netball: Diamonds great Caitlin Bassett on unhappy players, strike chance

They’re key stakeholders of the game, but Diamonds great Caitlin Bassett says the players are being ignored by netball’s governing body.

Caitlin Bassett says players are absolutely wild about the GF being sold without consultation.

It’s been a long time since players have whispered the word strike but after the events of the past week, Netball Australia has a very unhappy playing group on its hands.

While I am not suggesting there should be a strike I do know some players have contacted the Australian Netball Players Association to ask what the heck can we do to be heard and respected?

COMMENT: SELLING NETBALL GRAND FINAL WAS RIGHT CALL

I just don’t know what it’s going to take for our governing body to recognise its players as key stakeholders in the game.

And don’t think just because it’s a Commonwealth Games year that players are going to shoosh up and just accept things.

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Selling the Grand Final is one thing but not consulting the players about such a monumental shift in the finals process is another.

Outside of pandemic interruptions, the winning team of the major semi-final has almost in all cases been awarded the right to host the decider.

Instead the centrepiece of Suncorp Super Netball has been sold to the highest bidder – Western Australia.

Caitlin Bassett says netballers deserve more respect than they are getting.

This means the best team is not guaranteed to host the grand final.

Big call. A massive call.

And not a single player was consulted.

I was still relatively new to the national set-up when payments to players threatened to disrupt Australia’s preparations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The players’ union even threatened to strike if its demands were not met.

International players were seeking higher payment rates while on international duty with Australia, an increase from $200 to $350 in their first year with a rise to $400 in their second year and $450 in their third.

Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan.

A strike was avoided after Netball Australia proposed an offer that ended potential industrial action.

But where to from here for Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan?

The Players Association have been asking for transparency from Netball Australia around

financials for as long as I can remember.

A multimillion-dollar deficit has been touted as the reason our governing body sold the Grand Final … we all knew the game was in trouble, but we didn’t know how bad.

All the players want is transparency.

A pillar of good leadership is communication surely this means our CEO has an obligation to communicate with the players how our game got into such a state?

Caitlin Bassett says players are absolutely wild about the GF being sold without consultation.

No one wants netball to fold but the communication that our game is in dire straights should have happened years ago.

I appreciate that this did not happen under Kelly Ryan’s watch but it is her watch now and she can change the status quo … and communicate.

I would hate for our current crop of players to again be talking about a players strike ahead of the Birmingham Games.

Striking should really only be used as a last resort but what will it take for the players to be heard?

To stress an earlier point, the players are absolutely wild about being blind sided by this.

For an organisation to be successful there needs to be buy in from all stakeholders this

includes the players.

Netball Australia must regard its athletes as important in their decision making process – so let’s hear it, how are we going to fix this mess?

We are just 12 months out before the CBA ends and a new CBA will have to be signed and Netball Australia has a lot of work to do to rebuild its relationship with the Players Association.

It’s really is time to time to start talking.

Originally published as Super Netball: Diamonds great Caitlin Bassett on unhappy players, strike chance