End of ANZ Championships heralds change to New Zealand netball competition

After months of uncertainty over the future of the ANZ Championships, netball’s national bodies in New Zealand and Australia have confirmed that the trans-Tasman netball competition will be axed at the end of the current season, with both countries to move to back to standalone domestic competitions.

With the end of the nine-year trans-Tasman partnership, Netball New Zealand has revealed that its new competition will feature six teams, including the five existing franchises and a new start-up club, based in "the greater Auckland area".

In the new triple round format teams will each play 15 round robin games, including Super Sundays featuring all six teams in action at the same venue, before it culminates in a two-game finals series with the top three.

Games will be played on Sunday afternoons at a family-friendly time, which has proved successful in 2016 from an attendance and viewership perspective. Monday night netball will return, as well as a brand new timeslot on Wednesday nights.

Netball NZ also confirmed it is working on a new international component, the details of which will be announced in due course. Media reports suggest this will be a ‘Champions League’ style play-offs series, featuring the top franchises from New Zealand, Australia and, potentially, other nations.

Along with details of the new league, Netball NZ has announced Sky has recommitted for a further five years.

With New Zealand teams widely seen as under-performing in the ANZ Championships, Netball New Zealand Chief Executive Hilary Poole suggested that New Zealand would be benefit from not competing against Australian teams, stating "we believe we'll be immeasurably better off.

"We are really looking forward to developing our New Zealand style of play. We saw the beginnings of that again with the Silver Ferns towards the end of last year.

"We've tried to play the Australian style for the last nine years and it hasn't worked. In fact the competitive gap has widened over that period so it's time we come back to who we are and how we play and develop our own strengths."

Pool confirmed that the New Zealand teams’ uncompetitiveness “did not create the broadcast value in the Australian market (which) has held us back.”

Looking forward to its new broadcast deal, Poole said it was the most significant in the sport's history, adding “(this) announcement is a defining moment for netball and women's sport in New Zealand.

"This is the first time in NNZ's history we have been in the position to secure a five-year broadcast deal, which is testament to the growth and popularity of the sport in New Zealand and commitment of our leading sports broadcaster Sky."

New Zealand Netball Players Association executive manager, Stephanie Bond said her organisation have been working closely with NNZ in the formation of the new competition.

Bond explained “the players are genuinely excited about the new-look competition and believe it is the best step forward for Netball in New Zealand. It will continue to provide opportunities for NZ players to play at an elite level and against international opponents.”

Collective bargaining between Netball NZ and the Players' Association is set to begin here in the next two weeks in what shapes as a crucial period to retaining top line players.

Bond added “we don't have any indication yet about where it's going to fall in terms of player salaries.”

Images: Netball trial in Invercargill (top) and Beko Netball League action featuring Waikato Bay of Plenty v Netball Northern (below, image courtesy of Michael Bradley).

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