Bassett seeks Super Netball normality
AUSTRALIA captain Caitlin Bassett says any sort of hub format will be difficult to pull off when Super Netball makes its return from August 1.
The veteran shooter said players at all eight clubs would be relieved to emerge from an uncertain “holding pattern” and the financial impact of 70 per cent pay cuts brought on by COVID-19.
While the league is targeting a full 60-game season through to November, no draw has been published, leaving the door open for a schedule in which the number of venues are restricted. The NRL and AFL have introduced that concept, the latter asking its South Australia and Western Australia clubs to relocate to a Gold Coast hub ahead of next week’s resumption.
Bassett fears the Adelaide Thunderbirds and West Coast Fever could face the same scenario in Super Netball.
“Obviously we can’t cut them out of the competition but the thought of everyone moving and going into a hub is unrealistic for us,” Bassett told ABC Grandstand.
“Some girls even have families and things like that, so for us to come together and do something like the AFL and NRL are doing would be really hard... hopefully borders will have opened and we’ll just go back to normal.”
Pay comparison between the sports highlight why many netballers can’t afford to be away from their homes for extended periods. Players on the Super Netball minimum pay scale of $30,000 had still taken wage cuts, while some staff members had been stood down during the shutdown.
Bassett said it had been difficult seeing the NRL and AFL announce their competition details while netball information had been slow in forthcoming, both for professional players and the community game.