Shooting in a smaller league

Netball New Zealand is putting on a brave front following the Australian body's decision to sever ties with its transtasman rival and form its own league after this year.

New Zealand says local will be preferable, the best players will be retained and interest will grow.

If that is all so, why did New Zealand itself not pull out of the ANZ Championship earlier or at least express doubts? It was New Zealand alone which originally had television rights and which supported the Australians. Now big sister has its own TV deal (Channel Nine) and its teams will go their own way.

The Australian position is understandable. A New Zealand win in Australia is about as common as stumbling on a wombat in a Brisbane street, although the Adelaide Thunderbirds this year seem to be doing their best to bring themselves down to the New Zealand level.

Australian crowds would much rather see their teams battle it out than watch another easy win over transtasman opposition. It has parallels with this season's Super rugby. New Zealand teams mostly triumph over Australian counterparts, and the intense interest is focused on the local derbies.

Perhaps the combined competition had done its dash. New Zealand teams struggled and their fans were losing heart.

Australia simply has much more depth, and its competitive environment has been bringing out the best in its players.

Netball New Zealand says a new competition, to begin next season, will be far more than a throwback to pre-2008. There will be six teams, rather than the five in the ANZ Championship, with the extra based in greater Auckland.

Hopefully, there will be a transtasman/international component added. Pass-off times would be more New Zealand friendly, and Sky TV has committed to a five-year broadcast deal.

The optimists believe there is the opportunity for plenty of local interest and more attention to inter-regional rivalry. They could well have a point. The league and its teams will be easier to follow for the casual netball viewer than the present conference system, and, obviously, there has to be a New Zealand winner.

A major fear is that top players will be lured to the more lucrative league. New Zealand star Laura Langman is already playing for the Sydney Swifts and others could follow.

The standard of the local league could fall significantly below its Australian counterpart, especially if the overseas stars jump the fence for more money.

Netball New Zealand has tried to ameliorate this by, with only the rarest exception, tying national representation with playing in the New Zealand league.

And perhaps if New Zealand franchises cannot compete for the best international goal shoots - there are several playing at the moment - this country could develop its own. Finally, a suitable successor to Irene van Dyk might develop.

There is also a view New Zealand has been drawn into copying the physical Australian netball style when it might have been better to retain a distinctive way of playing.

Netball New Zealand had no choice but to go it alone when Australia turned its back. So far it has endeavoured to make the most of this new situation. It does so with some trepidation but also with hope.

What emerges will have to be stronger than the equivalent in Twenty20 men's cricket. The Big Bash across the Tasman outshines the Super Smash here.

Netball is the one New Zealand women's sport (outside the Olympics) that regularly rates well on television. The sport has had opportunity thrust upon it, and the new competition will have to hit the court next season running, passing and shooting. Given a strong start, a local league could thrive.

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