Indigenous netball star Donnell Wallam left ‘devastated’ by Hancock Prospecting as captain Liz Watson responds
Diamonds captain Liz Watson has spoken out over her team’s $15m sponsorship blow, saying the players had no regrets over their stance.
Indigenous netball star Donnell Wallam was reportedly left ‘distressed’ and ‘devastated’ by Hancock Prospecting’s bombshell decision to pull its proposed $15m of funding from the sport on Saturday.
Wallam was at the centre of player pushback to the proposed sponsorship from Gina Rinehart’s mining company, with reports she was uncomfortable with wearing the Hancock Prospecting logo on her uniform for her Diamonds debut against England on Wednesday night.
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The 28-year-old’s concerns revolve around comments made by Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock in the 1980s that sterilisation should be used to solve ‘the Aboriginal problem’.
Gina Rinehart has never made any public comments on her late father’s views.
However in the face of intense pressure, Wallam decided on Friday she would wear the logo on her uniform for her international debut.
In the end all Wallam’s deliberations and soul-searching were in vain as Hancock Prospecting withdrew its funding a day after the goal shooter made it clear she would wear the logo.
The shock decision by Rinehart’s company, which came along with a scathing statement from the mining magnate, left Wallam devastated according to reports.
Fox Sports reports: “The dress saga, which has thrown an enormous spotlight on Wallam after her sudden rise into Diamonds contention, has left the goal shooter distressed and upset.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reports Wallam was left “devastated” by Hancock Prospecting’s decision after her teammates had attempted to “shield her from scrutiny”.
Netball Australia Players Association boss Kathryn Harby-Williams was scathing of the decision by Netball Australia to not give Wallam an exemption which would have allowed her to avoid wearing the logo.
“In the end Donnell sought an exemption for herself and that wasn’t forthcoming because there was a meeting during the week, last week, where it was made very clear that no exemptions would be given to any of the players,” Harby-Williams told ABC Grandstand.
“And that was a disappointing moment because the players thought at the very least that Donnell would be granted an exemption at that point in time.
“One of our First Nations players had a conscientious objection to just three games to ask for an exemption in the end not to wear that logo … there’s a precedence in other sports where exemptions been given. I would have thought and hoped for Donnell that exemption would be provided.
“It got to the point where Donnell was then actually going to agree to wear the dress and that was simply because the pressure was too much for her to bear and as a sport I think that should be extremely disappointing for everybody.”
Harby-Williams said the unrelenting pressure ahead of Saturday’s bombshell announcement saw Wallam decide to stand down from her stance and wear the Hancock Prospecting logo.
“It got to the point where Donnell was going to agree to wear the dress because the pressure was too much to bear,” Harby-Williams said.
“As a sport, I think that should be extremely disappointing for everybody because we need to do better and be inclusive, with no fear of reprisal.”
After a week of controversy, Hancock Prospecting pulled the plug on their proposed deal on Saturday, saying in a statement that it had “not been made aware” of the issues between Netball Australia and the Players Association and did “not wish to add to netball’s disunity problems”.
Netball Australia said on Saturday it was “disappointed” by the decision which came ahead of a three-match series against England.
The $15 million commercial agreement, lasting until the end of 2025, would have been a lifeline for the governing body, which had lost more than $7 million over the past two years, mostly due to costs associated with Super Netball.
Netball Australia has been given a four-month grace period to arrange alternative funding arrangements.
The Diamonds were back on the court on Sunday night as they won the fourth and final game of the Constellation Cup against New Zealand.
Australia’s incredible comeback win meant they reclaimed the Constellation Cup from the Silver Ferns.
Wallam was seen sitting with teammates courtside during the match and was seemingly in good spirits despite the turbulent week she had endured.
In the wake of the match, Diamonds captain Liz Watson said she had no regrets over the stance taken by the team to support Wallam - even though she was dissapointed by the lost funding.
“Obviously we’re disappointed that the sponsorship is off the table,” Watson told News Corp.
“We were very excited and wanted to support it. But also, we’re supporting Donnell, we’re supporting the growth of this program as well and I think we’ve showed different learning points along the way from an organisation and players as well.
“We speak about creating an environment that everyone feels comfortable in and everyone can perform at their best — and that’s what I really take out of this … we want to be the best versions of ourselves on and off the court.”
Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich said she was proud of the environment the team had created.
“(The players) were able to provide an environment where someone felt safe enough to raise a concern,” Marinkovich said.
“And it’s how you work through that is where we grow as a group.
“It’s one (thing) to have an environment where you can have such open communication and transparency, I think that’s a huge reflection on the type of people that we’ve got.
“So I am proud of being able to create an environment where people can be authentic to themselves.”
Intervention is needed
Meanwhile, former Diamonds netball star Nat Medhurst has argued the relationship between Netball Australia and the Diamonds is currently broken and needs urgent fixing.
In an exclusive column for Code Sports, Medhurst writes that the two parties desperately need to get into a room and resolve their issues to ensure damaging debacles do not continue.
“As players, we always need to take the emotion out of things when we step out on to court. The Diamonds, and Netball Australia, need to do that here,” Medhurst writes.
“Maybe they all need to finally get into a room and have a full-on punch-up (figuratively, of course); but the first step is getting into that room.
“In two years, that has not happened. It is about time.
“They all need to be big enough to listen to each other. To try to understand. To get back the respect.
“Most importantly, to get the sport back on track, because the longer they wait, the price of this fall-out will become far more than $15 million.”
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