Maligned Netball Australia board is said to be putting off potential CEO candidates

A lack of confidence in Netball Australia’s board is said to be discouraging potential candidates from applying for the vacant CEO position, writes LINDA PEARCE.

A lack of confidence in the maligned Netball Australia board and its strategic vision is discouraging potential candidates from applying for the CEO’s role vacated in December by Kelly Ryan, according to a leading advocate for women in sport.

As three of the organisation’s seven executive positions await permanent appointments, and Ryan’s former ally and Super Netball boss Adam Richardson having left quietly in January to join the NBL, critics continue to call for a complete overhaul of the Wendy Archer-led board.

Michelle Redfern, the founder of Advancing Women in Business and Sport, told CODE Sports she was aware of “half a dozen” female executives sounded out as potential replacements for Ryan by NA’s executive search firm, SRI, who had been dissuaded by leadership, directorial capability and governance-related concerns.

Her experiences were echoed by several senior figures within netball who have questioned the current leadership. Applications for the CEO’s position, believed to come with an annual salary package in excess of $400,000, closed last Thursday.

“All are extremely well-credentialed women in the sporting sector; many who have already held CEO roles, so they’re not unaware of the challenges of a C-Suite position, and the really complex nature of a federated model,’’ Redfern said.

“These women that I know have got runs on the board and they’re saying ‘No, it’s just not set up right’.’’

Former Netball NSW CEO Carolyn Campbell, who declined to comment yesterday, is among those linked to the CEO role in which Executive General Manager Performance, Stacey West, is acting as caretaker and also believed to be interested in the permanent gig.

Netball Australia Chair Wendy Archer (L) confirmed John O’Sullivan’s replacement would be confirmed at the AGM. Picture: Shaun Roy/Gallo Images

Yet although deputy Chair John O’Sullivan this week added his resignation to those of fellow directors Jane Seawright in October and Marino Go — a former NA Chair — in December, pressure continues to build on Archer and the three remaining pre-2023 directors: Todd Deacon and Gabbi Stubbs, both appointed in mid-2021, and Peter Legg, who was first elected in 2019 and again in 2022.

Former Netball Victoria president Kirrily Zimmerman and ex-NSW politician Gabrielle Upton have filled the two casual vacancies created by Seawright and Go, while O’Sullivan will be replaced at the Annual General Meeting in May.

But the greatest heat is on the embattled Archer, who said in a statement on Tuesday that the Board had fielded enquiries from potential new board candidates and would proactively seek out others but did not reply when contacted directly for comment.

Archer is not thought to be considering relinquishing the post she inherited from Go 17 months ago after joining the board in April 2018, however, and has another year of her current term still to run.

Yet the call for change is mounting. Lisa Alexander, Australia’s longest-serving national coach, wrote in a weekend column for this masthead that the current board should not be selecting the next CEO, and queried why the AGM had not been brought forward to February/March.

“The Board and Chair Wendy Archer should be held accountable at the AGM and to NA’s major stakeholders before they are entrusted with selecting the new leader of the game,’’ Alexander wrote, while also referencing the loss of over $17 million in approved federal government funding, relationships with the players and other key issues.

Redfern, like Alexander and others, has called for more board accountability and transparency.

“How are decisions being made? What’s the constitution? How are the governance principles being adhered to? And how are stakeholders being brought on that journey with really good strong strategic communication?

“So I think there’s a real feeling that there needs to be real change at the board level before anyone’s willing to go in and resurrect the once-great franchise.

“It’s just a dreadful shame… because the reality is it’s not just (impacting) those people at the national sports association level; it trickles all the way through to those little people who are going to start joining netball, because parents will make decisions about the strength of the organisation as a whole. So this has a long tail.’’

Lisa Alexander. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Former Diamonds captain Liz Ellis has previously expressed interest in joining the board, which also includes her former teammate Mo’onia Gerrard as the athlete director, and First Nations appointee Cheryl Kickett-Tucker, but Ellis’ current intentions are unclear.

Meanwhile, as the resignations trickle through, the NA executive is in what has been described as a “holding pattern”, despite there being a strong sense of urgency in some quarters for the sport to move forward positively from two strife-torn years that including selling grand final hosting rights without consulting key stakeholders and the Hancock Prospecting sponsorship contretemps.

Following West’s elevation on an interim basis when Ryan quit on December 12, EGM of Strategic Projects, Participation and Community Glenn Turnor was the next to exit the executive team, That position has also since been advertised, but Richardson’s mega-portfolio as EGM of Commercial, Suncorp Super Netball and Events has not.

It is believed there is a preference to first usher in the new CEO, who may wish to oversee a restructure, given the size and breadth of Richardson’s former role before he was moved sideways to oversee the new SSN team the Melbourne Mavericks until owners the Sports Entertainment Group took over on January 1.

Richardson started as the NBL’s Chief Commercial Officer later that month after joining NA in October 2021 from the AFL, a few months after Ryan’s appointment.

The remaining members of the NA executive are West, EGM Media Spencer Retallack, EGM Finance and Operations Steve Hancock and GM People and Culture Kimberlee Furness.

Diana Taylor, Netball Australia’s legal counsel from 2018 to 2021, a former Telstra Businesswoman of the Year winner, and current Geelong Football Club vice-president, believes replacing Ryan comes at a pivotal time for the sport.

“I think it’s critically important that the next CEO has the trust and confidence of the netball system, and has sporting as well as commercial wins on the board,’’ Taylor said.

“Clearly there’s a lot of healing across the board which is going to be required for netball, but also to build confidence in the system in a really respectful way moving forward.’’

Originally published as Maligned Netball Australia board is said to be putting off potential CEO candidates