Kiwis eye switch as Super Netball sticks with unlimited imports

Super Netball is set to stick with an unlimited import rule for 2019.

New Zealand star Maria Folau is free to play in Australia’s Super Netball competition next season. Picture: Getty Images

Super Netball is set to stick with an unlimited import rule for next year as some of New Zealand’s biggest names prepare to join a league crowded with talent.

Australian and Kiwi administrators have been locked in a stare-down over access to talent since the dissolution of the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship league in 2016.

Netball New Zealand, in a bid to boost its own league, introduced rules that prevented any athlete not contracted to a local club from being selected for national side, the Silver Ferns.

But that resolve appears to have been broken in the past fortnight, as 12-month exemptions have been handed to stars Laura Langman and Maria Folau, releasing them from any penalties if they sign with a Super Netball side next season.

Folau lives in Sydney with her rugby union star husband, Israel, and Langman recently said leaving Sunshine Coast Lightning last year was not one of her smartest moments.

Netball Australia chief executive Marne Fechner said: “Our very clear objective is to have the world’s leading women’s sports league. The prospect of some of those athletes playing in Super Netball is an interesting one.’’

The lack of a cap on imports came under fire after Australia’s Commonwealth Games loss to England in April, when concerns were raised that it was stunting the development of local players.

The combination of only 56 starting positions in the league and an increasingly deep global talent pool means court time in Super Netball is hard fought for.

NSW Swifts shooter Sophie Garbin proved a matchwinner off the bench this year, but has opted to stay with the team and share court time with Trinidad import Sam Wallace next year.

This week, goaler Charlee Hodges joined the increasing list of young guns to leave Adelaide, taking a contract with New Zealand club Northern Stars.

But Fechner said that “no changes” were planned to the imports rule at this point.

She also lauded a successful second year for the Australian competition, defined by a competitive balance never seen before in netball.

“Our objective was to step the level of competition up and keep moving in that direction, and I think we achieved that,” Fechner said. “We’ve had more tightly contested games than ever before in elite netball.”

This year has seen higher crowd attendances, membership and sponsorship revenue for Super Netball. Last week’s preliminary final drew a television audience 50 per cent above the same match in 2017, thanks in part to the shift to the Nine Network’s main channel.

This year’s biggest change was the introduction of a bonus point system that rewarded teams for winning quarters.

The system drew criticism from many Super Netball teams, as well as former Diamonds coaches Joyce Brown and Norma Plummer.

Fechner said she remained a fan of the bonus points but they will be included in a broader review of the season next week, which will include consultation with all clubs in the league.