Super Netball teams Swifts and Giants fined for breach of Covid reporting protocols
Netball Australia boss Kelly Ryan has defended the ruling body’s tough stance on Covid protocol breaches by the NSW Swifts and Giants during the season.
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Netball Australia boss Kelly Ryan says transparency will continue to be a hallmark of her administration regardless of whether it ruffles feathers.
The national body fined Netball NSW $57,563 – $10,000 of it suspended – on Friday for breaches of the Super Netball Covid reporting protocols by the Swifts and Giants.
Netball NSW acknowledged mistakes had been made in delays reporting members of the teams’ touring parties had been at Tier 1 and Tier 2 exposure sites during the time the league played in a hub in Melbourne and accepted the penalties.
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But NA had underlined that the clubs’ actions were not premeditated or deliberate and there was no intention to put the competition at risk.
Netball NSW boss Tain Drinkwater acknowledged errors from both teams but said it was important they were viewed in context.
“It is clear there were delays in reporting exposure links from both our teams and we take ownership of that,” Drinkwater said.
“We accept the financial penalties but welcome the acknowledgment that these were not done out of selfishness or disregard for the competition. They were simply human errors made in high pressure and stressful situations and that context is very important.”
NA had resisted adding context to its own statement on Friday. The governing body acknowledged the sacrifices both NSW teams made in relocating several times throughout the season to ensure the competition continued but Ryan said a message had to be sent – both to Super Netball teams and to governments that agreed to host the competition – that Covid protocols were not negotiable.
“When you deviate from those protocols you absolutely have the risk of bringing the whole competition to the end,” Ryan said.
“And it is incredibly important that we have the consistency around what the protocols are and that consistency in the way in which they’re communicated.
“If it does mean the difference between the competition continuing and the competition not continuing, because of someone not fulfilling their obligations, then obviously we have to take that incredibly seriously and we do want to show anyone who’s supporting netball – especially the governments – that we go to enormous lengths to show them the protocols we operate under.
“We have to hold ourselves accountable as a sport that not only do we have the protocols but we’re communicating them and if something doesn’t go to plan we’re enforcing them and we hope that that earns the trust and respect of all the governments that show how seriously we do take this.”
Ryan confirmed an investigation into the postponed Super Netball clash between the Fever and Vixens last season was still ongoing.
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Netball Australia has issued fines to grand final franchises the NSW Swifts and Giants Netball after an investigation found the clubs failed to follow Covid reporting protocols.
An investigation confirmed the Super Netball grand finalists erred in not reporting immediately, that members of their teams had been to places that subsequently became known Covid exposure sites.
Netball NSW, the body that oversees both Super Netball franchises in the state, has acknowledged errors and accepted penalties handed down.
Netball NSW has been fined $10,000 for the Swifts’ delay in reporting the exposure link.
The organisation has also been fined an additional $10,000, suspended for two years, in respect of a Giants Netball delay in reporting, and been ordered to pay $37,563 for the team’s additional charter and commercial flights to Queensland.
A statement released by the Giants confirmed the penalties and provided more context on the breach.
“Netball NSW has today accepted the financial penalties handed down by the Netball Australia board after it was determined that GIANTS Netball delayed reporting links to COVID-19 exposure sites in Melbourne during the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season,” it said.
“After an investigation was undertaken by Netball NSW, it was clear that the non-compliance was found to not be pre-mediated and there was no intent to deliberately put the competition at risk.
“As communicated previously, the GIANTS were delayed from departing Adelaide Airport alongside five of the other teams after it was identified that a number of players and staff had visited a Tier 1 and Tier 2 exposure site.
“The sites were not areas of concern when the team visited them and were subsequently elevated to Tier 1 and Tier 2 status.”
A statement from the Swifts outlined the same penalties and findings, adding: “Some members of the NSW Swifts travelling party were required to isolate for 14 days in Adelaide after being identified as close contacts of patrons who attended a Tier 1 exposure site in Melbourne.
“The exposure site was not an area of concern at the time the patrons visited but was subsequently elevated to Tier 1 status by the Victorian Government.”
Amid non stop movement owing to Covid, the clubs will be rightfully livid if they are painted as villains given the sacrifices they made to allow the Super Netball season to continue.
The Swifts and Giants left NSW early in the season after that state became a Covid hot spot and moved around the country - from Queensland to Victoria, South Australia and eventually back to Queensland - spending almost 70 days on the road before meeting in the grand final in Brisbane just five weeks ago.
Unlike the NRL breach situation - in which St George Illawarra players left lockdown to attend a house party - the Swifts and Giants players and officials have not deliberately or intentionally breached protocol.
The Giants were billed $37k for a charter flight from Adelaide to Brisbane, taken after the club was initially refused entry to Queensland.
“It is clear there were delays in reporting exposure links from both our teams and we take ownership of that,” Netball NSW Tain Drinkwater said.
“We accept the financial penalties but welcome the acknowledgment that these were not done out of selfishness or disregard for the competition. They were simply human errors made in high pressure and stressful situations and that context is very important.
“I want to again publicly acknowledge the huge efforts of our players, coaches, support staff and family members who made the season happen. Without them there would have been no Super Netball either this year or last year.
“While we admit the errors made at our end, we are disappointed that the public correspondence from Netball Australia gives the impression that all fault lies with the NSW Swifts and GIANTS, which the investigation conceded was not the case.
“The fines relate to the reporting delays and, in the case of the GIANTS, the extra charter flight costs and we understand our responsibility to pay those. But a lack of clear protocols and processes from Netball Australia during the season given the ever-evolving COVID-19 changes often made life difficult for our travelling groups.
“For both the Swifts and GIANTS, who relocated up to five times across four different states over 67 days, it resulted in extended quarantine periods despite advice that it wouldn’t be required. Nevertheless, our teams and staff did everything in their power to ensure the competition continued with little delay, and provided a fitting Grand Final pairing for their supporters in NSW.”
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