Nat Medhurst: Baseless fears and unfair rules are shortchanging our players financially

This new competition saw the introduction of three new clubs (all franchises), the removal of restrictions on international imports for clubs (which is still the source of much debate), a change in broadcast rights and with it, a change in the professionalism and demands on players.

When the Suncorp Super Netball League was introduced, the three franchise clubs brought with them a great deal of financial threat to the other pre-existing, member-owned clubs.

Most notably, it was Collingwood that was expected to provide the greatest financial backing of a strong and wealthy AFL club.

Netball teams, league management and fans alike thought it would see them “pay for a premiership” and throw money at players that would financially ruin the other clubs attempting to keep up with providing a strong list.

Ironically, Collingwood, despite an incredibly star-studded line up (and falling under the salary cap in the process), finished fourth in their first season. A sigh of relief coming from the league executives and opposition teams could be heard.

Unlike many of its male sporting counterparts, netball has always walked the sporting atmosphere with a clean cut image. Until recently at least.

While female sport is gaining momentum and the overdue attention, credit and respect it deserves, netball’s golden girl image has been tainted and overshadowed by off-court dramas.

This has included the league’s decision to implement new and drastic rule changes that exist nowhere else in the world, without consultation with the games’ biggest stakeholders – the players.

And then there have been three salary cap breaches from clubs including the Adelaide Thunderbirds, West Coast Fever – responsible for the largest breach when player payments exceeded 25% of the salary cap in 2019, and in recent weeks, the Queensland Firebirds.

2017 brought a new league and a higher level of professionalism and expectation placed on players. Contracts were also extended to take in the full calendar year. While players believed that this new league would provide them with greater financial benefits and opportunities to maximise their earnings whilst playing, the league instead placed numerous roadblocks and restrictions to prevent players being able to do just that.

While most would think that sports, particularly one where the minimum wage sat at $31,500 when the league first started in 2017, it has instead put an unfair handbrake on players being able to do so. Netball’s initial fear that the competition would be skewed unfairly has created a fear factor on their end that does not match reality.

Kathryn Harby-Williams, CEO of the Australian Netball Players Association (ANPA), is firm on the league increasing its ability to prepare and develop their players for life after netball. As for the salary cap breaches, while some were significant, many such as the Queensland Firebirds’ “additional services agreements”, need to be amended and seriously looked at.

It is a constant cry from players to ease the restrictions in place. These ‘Part Bs’ (as they are known) of a playing contract, are jobs outside of a normal playing contract. It was these Part B employment contracts that put the fear in many, because of the assumption that a player would be paid tens of thousands of dollars for a job inside their club, but not do any work for that money.

So, the league instead made it a requirement that every job must go to market, despite a player being legitimately qualified for that particular role. This even included community roles that would have seen players doing clinics for their club and sport.

Since 2017, the ANPA has started making inroads where now any netball-related jobs do not need to go to market. Their biggest challenge now is being able to broaden that to allow job opportunities, such as physiotherapy and media that are being studied by athletes, whether through the club themselves, their sponsors or through another connection can be utilised.

For many netballers, a job outside of netball is what they want and yet struggle constantly to achieve. The ability for players to obtain their own employment while playing netball is near impossible.

Using a club’s connections to find flexible work while still being able to play and compete is absolute gold to a player. But instead they find themselves in front of a brick wall, or jumping through hoops to supplement their income, particularly those who sit on the current minimum 12-month wage of $43,000.

It is not just these employment obstacles that need to be considered either.

The intellectual property of players, when sport and particularly female sport is climbing, has not increased since the introduction of the Suncorp Super Netball League. The same player today is deemed to be worth the exact same amount as they were six years ago.

There is no tiered system of value based on players, where it sees an Australian captain, a world champion, a 200-plus national league gamer, valued the same amount as a first-year rookie for an appearance. This is the value, or lack of, being placed on the players by the sport themselves.

What we know and what players accept, is that when they leave the sport, there is no support provided.

Not so much fed to the wolves, but left in a position to build a new career on the back of one that has demanded and taken so much, yet provided little opportunity to set themselves up for the ‘afterlife’.

While many fall on their feet, it is often a turbulent, unsure and self-doubting road to come out the other side feeling somewhat okay about what is ahead.

These semi-professional sports (in the financial terms) need to provide a far greater holistic outlook that looks after the players not just as athletes, but as people too. That means opportunities for growth and development while competing that allow them to take that big step into retired life... and a little more financial support from playing to fall back on in case they do stumble along the way.