The Netball South board informed Blast players this week they would not be fielding a team in the league in 2026.
Chairman Dean Johnston said alternative options were being considered after Netball New Zealand initially advised the NNL was unlikely to continue next season.
The cost of running the Steel’s second-tier team continued to increase while the number of games decreased each year.
An email to players also cited culling the playoffs, one round being scheduled and non-televised games as other challenges.
"Ultimately, we believe the value the NNL represented in terms of a pathway for players, coaches and management has been eroded," Johnston said.
"Taking into account the overall financial environment, Netball South made the difficult decision to not enter the Southern Blast. As a board we want to explore other avenues that could benefit and develop our elite members and would give the best value."
Former Southern Blast coach Abbey McKenzie was dumbfounded by the decision.
"I am so passionate about this space and how much this space means," McKenzie said.
"It’s just a really short-sighted decision that they haven’t thought through the repercussions for years to come, and that’s the bit that worries me when we’re already lacking depth in netball."
McKenzie, who stepped down after eight years earlier this year, questioned why no-one in involved in the Blast had been consulted before the decision was finalised.
She disagreed with the board’s reasoning, as the league was already slashed to one round in 2025 and they had not been in the playoffs in seven years.
"What have players got from secondary schools onwards now? Where’s the Steel going to get their players from? Are we now going to be a franchise that just buys in players?
"We’re not developing any homegrown talent — and that’s evident."
The NNL sits below the ANZ Premiership and is a feeder league, with players joining the Steel as cover.
Having a pathway where players were only exposed locally was not good enough, McKenzie said.
"These girls want to play players from other zones.
"We have to be playing the North Island teams that are bigger, and stronger, to know what we need to do get there."
New Zealand secondary schools coach and former Blast coach Jo Morrison called on several NNL players during her tenure an assistant coach with the Steel.
NNL was crucial for development, and if the zone was not exposing players to step up to the next level then "we’re setting them up to fail", she said.
While she understood the challenges in a large zone, Morrison was gutted for Dunedin players who would feel the pinch. She was proud eight players from 2025 came through local pathways.
Coaching the Blast also helped her gain experience to step into other roles.
The national secondary schools squad relied heavily on NNL coaches attending their national camps for development.
"What does that look like now ... for the coaches in the South? There’s lots of ramifications of a decision like this."
Morrison remained optimistic the netball community could come together and find a solution to still be involved nationally next season.
Before the decision, Johnston said detailed discussions were held within Netball South’s high performance team, following previous concerns raised by centres regarding whether the NNL was fit for purpose as a development pathway.
"It is feasible to view the Blast’s absence from the finals for the last seven years as an indication the NNL competition was no longer working for our zone and therefore a catalyst for change," Johnston said.
Netball South intended to create a pathway, or competition, to develop players, and a working group would be established to investigate alternative options.
He did not rule out a return to the NNL or similar competitions in the future.
