Netball’s Diamonds threaten to boycott matches amid board row

A boycott of Diamonds matches remains an option for the nation’s best players after symbolic protests yesterday.

The Vixens’ Mwai Kumwenda gets physical against the NSW Swifts yesterday. Picture: Brett Costello

A boycott of Australia’s international netball fixtures remains an option for the nation’s best players after they staged symbolic protests at Super Netball matches across the weekend.

Players from opposing teams linked arms around the centre circle before their round-nine matches, joining in a minute’s silence as a show of resolve and solidarity.

At Sunday’s double-header in Sydney, national team stars Kim Green and Sharni Layton reaffirmed the stand taken by the Australian Netball Players Association, which last week threatened industrial action, consideration of a rebel league and a boycott of international matches for the rest of the year.

It came amid a “devastating” week of boardroom moves at Netball Australia, which players perceived as contrary to the game’s best interests. Those included the ousting of Anne-Marie Corboy as Netball Australia chair and former Diamonds captain Kathryn Harby-Williams’ subsequent failure to secure re-election to the board.

On the court yesterday, a 48-goal haul at 94 per cent accuracy by Caitlin Thwaites helped Collingwood secure an upset 59-56 win over competition heavyweights the Giants in Sydney.

The Magpies held five-goal leads at different stages of the first two quarters and a six-goal advantage at three-quarter time. However, the Giants continued their trend of finishing strongly and drew level at 52-52 with seven minutes remaining, forcing the Magpies to draw on all their substantial firepower to close out the match at Qudos Bank Arena.

“We just really wanted to make sure we did the basics right today,” Collingwood goalkeeper Layton said. “Sometimes it takes your natural instinct away from the game, but we really wanted to stick to the plan. When you do that and you can get on top of things, that’s when it flows and your mojo starts to come out again.”

Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald said it was a frustrating match. “In various stages through the match we launched great fightbacks and when we got level I thought we were there,” she said.

“But we just didn’t do enough earlier on. I thought in the first half we had patches where we weren’t getting our hands on any ball defensively and making a few errors attacking-wise. We just didn’t do enough.”

In the second match, the Melbourne Vixens dominated the NSW Swifts in a convincing 60-minute performance to score a 62-54 win. The Vixens won each term and built on their 35-30 halftime lead to ensure a comfortable victory, placing them alongside Sunshine Coast Lightning at the top of the ladder.

Mwai Kumwenda scored 37 goals at 93 per cent accuracy for the Vixens, while goal attack Tegan Philip chipped in with the remaining 25 goals. At the other end, Sam Wallace continued her impressive season for the Swifts, scoring 37 goals from 39 attempts. However, the visitors had too much firepower for a home side missing Diamonds star Paige Hadley due to injury.

The Vixens’ consistent form brought praise from Swifts coach Rob Wright, who predicted a four-way tussle for the premiership between the Lightning, Giants Netball, Collingwood Magpies and the Vixens. “All four have shown they can win this comp,” Wright said.

AAP