Australia set to stuff netball squads with imported talent
As many as a quarter of the contracts on offer in Australia’s new domestic netball league could be taken up by imports.
The contracting period for the Australian competition officially gets under way on Monday, with the eight franchises required to submit their final rosters to league administrators by the end of the month.
Most teams are expected to be in a position to confirm their line- ups swiftly, having already entered into informal agreements with players while they waited for Netball Australia and players’ association bosses to finalise the collective agreement.
That deal was announced to much fanfare earlier this week after the players’ association secured a significant pay rise and improved income protection for its athletes.
It won’t just be Australian players set to benefit from the new deal, with the number of imports in the 2017 competition expected to be in the 15- 20 range as franchises have taken advantage of Netball Australia’s con- troversial decision to allow unlimited imports in the new competition.
The Herald understands t wo teams could have four imports each, while the remaining six franchises have one or two.
The influx of overseas players into the Australian league is at odds with Netball Australia’s original case for expansion, with bosses there arguing Australia’s greater playing depth warranted more teams.
The new competition will feature eight franchises — the five existing ANZ Championship teams, along with three start- up clubs backed by private investors. With the squads to be reduced from 12 players to 10 next year, the addition of three teams has been offset by the flood of imports.
While the league will feature several high profile internationals such as Jamaican supershooter Romelda Aiken and England’s Geva Mentor, Serena Guthrie and Jo Harten, who are set to add a lot to the competition, there are just as many questionable recruitments from second- tier nations including South Africa, Scotland and Trinidad and Tobago.
The only New Zealand players expected to line up in the new league are Silver Ferns midcourter Laura Langman and 1.93m defender Erena Mikaere, who has been with the West Coast Fever for the last two seasons of the ANZ Championship.
Both Langman and Mikaere, who have played together at the Magic, are tipped to link with their former coach Noeline Taurua at the new Sunshine Coast- based franchise.
Langman’s decision to take up a contract in Australia next season will mean she will be ineligible for Silver Ferns selection.
Despite imports reducing the opportunities for local players, Aus- tralian coach Lisa Alexander was supportive of the move to lift restrictions on overseas players, putting her faith in Netball Australia’s high performance system to continue to churn out world class athletes.
Netball New Zealand have restricted imports to one per team in the new ANZ elite league. There will be at least four new international players joining the competition next year — South African shooter Lenize Potgeiter, who has signed with the Magic, and England’s Sara Bayman ( Pulse), Sasha Corbin ( Mystics) and her sister, Kadeen ( Tactix).