‘Doesn’t look good’: Aussie great slams ‘outrageous’ call after netball’s biggest hit

Australian great Bianca Chatfield has hit out at the “outrageous” decision after one of the most brutal collisions ever seen on a netball court.

Australian great Bianca Chatfield has hit out at the “outrageous” decision to not stop the game after one of the most brutal collisions ever seen on a netball court.

With less than a minute to play and scores level, Mavericks defender Kim Jenner pulled off the brilliant deflection – but was “absolutely cleaned up” in the aftermath by Giants opponent Amy Sligar.

Both players had eyes on the ball as they collided coming from opposite directions in Saturday’s match at Ken Rosewall Arena.

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The result left both players sprawled across the sideline in stunning scenes – yet play was allowed to continue.

That decision to not stop the game has been slammed by former Diamonds defender Chatfield – especially given Netball Australia’s updated concussion and player safety policies for 2024.

“Kim Jenner gets absolutely cleaned up,” Chatfield said on ABC’s Offsiders.

“At this point in the game, the umpires didn’t stop, didn’t call time. Play went down the other end of the court.

“That to me was outrageous.

“That needs to be stopped.

“We’ve got a new concussion policy in netball.

“Any head high infringements, straight away the game has to be stopped. It wasn’t. It was let go and played out.

“These poor girls had to pick themselves up and figure out where they were by the end of it.”

Super Netball rules state “Umpires may hold time without a request being made if there is an obvious or serious injury” – yet neither umpire determined play needed to be stopped.

There’s also concussion protocols in place allowing an independent match day doctor and home team doctor to call time and remove an athlete from the court if a head knock is suspected.

The massive collision between Kim Jenner and Amy Sligar.

Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald was left unimpressed by the decision to play on – with her side falling to a one-goal loss in the thriller.

“It did seem a little bit strange that it was just play on – we had two players lying on the ground on the sideline and it was just play on,” she said.

Neither club has confirmed whether their players were concussion tested post-match, but Sligar did leave the court with an apparent wrist injury and appeared in obvious pain on the bench.

“I don’t know exactly but it certainly doesn’t look good. It was a big collision,” she said of Sligar’s condition.

Jenner, who had earlier come from the court with a nasty finger dislocation, finished player of the match.

“It’s always body on the line in those minutes. That was our finals right there,” she said after the win kept the Mavericks’ top four hopes alive.

“It was just do what you’ve got to do.”

Both players were left sprawled on the court.

Foxsports.com.au has reached out to Netball Australia for comment on whether correct duty of care process was followed in the collision aftermath.

Former rugby league hardman Ryan Hoffman was left in awe of the way both Jenner and Sligar didn’t take a backwards step in those dying seconds.

“Let’s not forget when you see NRL and AFL players (collide heavily), they are landing on grass,” he said on Offsiders.

“These women are landing on the floorboards.

“That is tough.”

Originally published as ‘Doesn’t look good’: Aussie great slams ‘outrageous’ call after netball’s biggest hit