Super Netball: Rivalry between Magpies and Vixens only bubbling

Tonight’s Melbourne double-header will be barometer of how the Magpies have taken to the new Super Netball league.

Melbourne Vixens fans show their colours at Hisense Arena against the Magpies last month. Picture: George Salpigtidis

When the Collingwood Magpies were unveiled as one of the expansion sides in the new Super Netball League, questions were raised about how many fans would join the black and white army.

Tonight’s double-header in Melbourne will provide the best read so far as to how support in the city has been divided.

The Vixens and Magpies will host consecutive matches against the Swifts and Giants at HiSense Arena and members of both Victorian sides have been given a seat for the entire night.

Last week, the league’s first double-header was held at Homebush in Sydney, where fans of the new Giants side came in droves.

So far in Melbourne, the indications are positive for the Magpies, who have cleared the season membership target, signing up more than 3000 fans.

But the Vixens’ figures have fallen by about 10 per cent from last year. Although some of that decline can be attributed to defections to the Magpies, Netball Victoria chief executive Rosie King also said a fixture list heavy on night matches and the loss of some key talent were factors.

The animosity that normally follows Collingwood hadn’t carried over to the new code.

Despite a heavy marketing push around “The Battle” — the name given to Victoria’s new netball derby — there is a distinct lack of heat in the community.

Collingwood’s general manager of Netball Jen McIntyre said her club had seen game-day membership inquiries from fans wearing Vixens gear, seemingly enthusiastic about the opportunity to see more matches.

“I’m wondering whether fans just love netball, and are taking the opportunity to support two teams. And that’s the beauty of having two teams in Melbourne: most weekends there will be some netball that they can go and watch,” McIntyre said.

King said that, so far, the community had seen the introduction of a new side as a reason to cheer, rather than as a new threat.

McIntyre said Collingwood were acutely aware of public ­perception heading into the new season, and quite cautious about the netball side being seen as an extension of the football team.

“We are trying to stand on our own,’’ she said. “When we first started, we weren’t stupid. People tend to either love Collingwood or hate Collingwood, and I guess we were cautious about not pushing netball down the throats of people who are diehard Collingwood football supporters, and also not wanting to alienate people that didn’t barrack for Collingwood in football. I still see a lot of comments on social media like ‘I could never barrack for Collingwood in football, but I’ll barrack for them in netball’,” she said.

The Magpies leadership was even wary about their netballers singing the football side’s song until the players said they wanted to embrace the club’s culture.

Both teams agree some of the diehards among Collingwood’s 80,000 football members would have naturally jumped aboard the new side, but that the true drawcard for the netball team has been the star power of its recruits.

McIntyre said netball fans had traditionally had a “follow the player, not the club” mentality. With that in mind, the Magpies’ main focus last year was on signing up key Victorian talent from around the nation. Last year’s ­Vixens captain Madi Robinson crossed town to join the new club alongside Alice Teague-Neeld and the club has also given local talent like Caitlyn Thwaites and Sharni Layton the opportunity to return home after stints interstate.

King said Victoria’s talent development had been so strong the chances provided by the introduction of the Magpies could only be a positive, even if it dragged talent away from the Vixens.

“We’re creating players, through our pathways, some of which will end up playing for our opposition. And we’re absolutely fine with that. If you have really elite players sitting on the sideline, that’s actually not good for the sport, or the players. So the more teams, the greater the opportun­ities presented to the players to get that real quality time,” she said.

Netball Australia, and both clubs, seem focused on drawing clearer lines of demarcation between these sides in the future, encouraging fans to pick a side.

A fierce opening round match between the Magpies and Vixens certainly didn’t hurt, but perhaps the off-court heat needs a little more time to develop.