Super Netball stars are being offered to overseas leagues as Collingwood, CPA uncertainty weighs heavily

Player agent Trent Tavoletti, whose clients include Collingwood trio Shimona Nelson, Geva Mentor and Jodi-Ann Ward, knows that eight SSN teams are required under a broadcast agreement with FOX Sports that still has three years of its five to run.

But he also considers it necessary to be exploring offshore options given the current situation in Australia.

“I’ve been looking overseas already for the players, both New Zealand and the UK,’’ Tavoletti told CODE Sports.

“It’s a complete shemozzle for them now. First of all there’s questions around (the identity of) the eighth side, and second of all we can’t even have the discussions with clubs about next year because of the CPA. So it’s twofold, from my point of view.

“There’s somebody like a Shimona Nelson, who doesn’t have a club next year. I’ve sent out player lists to clubs, but I can’t talk to other clubs because clubs are being told they’re not allowed to talk to managers.’’

MORE: CODE Sports’ investigation into Collingwood Netball – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Tavoletti’s take is that the black-and-white striped door has effectively shut, and will not re-open. And while everything is being finalised, with Tasmania indicating it will seek the licence should it become vacant, and the Lightning supporting Bendigo as a regional Victorian solution, it’s the players in the midst of the chaos who are fretting the most.

“So it’s about trying to keep the players calm, because they’re the ones left in the lurch,’’ he said.

Netball Australia has played down the prospect of offering financial support or concessions to Collingwood to remain in the competition. Upcoming financial discussions were referenced in Tuesday’s meeting between Magpies chief executive Craig Kelly and players and staff, during which Collingwood revealed its internal assessment of a seven-year SSN involvement.

“Not in our thinking at this particular point,’’ Netball Australia chief executive Kelly Ryan told CODE Sports. “Again, not pre-empting the outcome, so not considering any sort of financial support, at this particular point.

“We’ll just let them do their review. If they need input from us, we’ll be there, and that’s probably as much as I can actually speak to.’’

In contrast, the netball world is talking, talking, talking some more.

Just as the jungle drums over Collingwood’s intentions were beating – to the point where questions that had been asked by CODE Sports over many weeks regarding the club’s position on its netball program were finally answered with the brief confirmation of “under review” – the next subject of conjecture has been the league’s only other privately-owned club, the Sunshine Coast Lightning.

Melbourne Storm Group chair Matt Tripp did not reply to a request for comment following publication of the two-part investigation into the Magpies’ woes, but his claims last month of being “fully committed to Super Netball long-term – what form that takes I still don’t know” were reinforced yesterday by outgoing Lightning chief executive Danielle Smith, who presided over the inaugural flags in 2017-18.

“The Storm Group is very committed to Super Netball in the long-term and the Sunshine Club Lightning and the Sunshine Coast region itself, and we’ve been working really hard, particularly since the 100 per cent ownership came through (in 2021), to put in more initiatives that will obviously allow us to keep growing,’’ said Smith, who has been part of Super Netball’s journey since its birth.

“We’ve really strengthened the commercial program, particularly with integration across both Storm and Lightning … but we also feel we’ve got a really unique commercial operation, as well, with two different locations in a capital city and a regional and two different codes and obviously the male and female aspect of all that.

“It is a challenging landscape, financially, as it is with all women’s sport, because it’s in a period of growth and investment, and Storm’s just working through with Netball Australia what the extended licence agreement looks like and obviously the Collective Player Agreement as well, and hopefully those things come to fruition very soon.’’

Ryan said she feels “deeply” for the SSN players and staff in limbo-land, given the extra layer of uncertainty and concern all this provides, and that it is thus incumbent on Netball Australia to move as quickly as possible, however it plays out.

Which may well be at odds with CODE Sport’s understanding of feet being dragged over the CPA process, and so, what happens if the Magpies, as expected, do withdraw? Is everything on hold until then?

“I’m sure our players can also appreciate that any changes need to be done in the right way, and sometimes you can’t put a time frame on them, but just noting the appetite to make sure we create certainty is of huge importance to us,’’ Ryan said.

The CEO would only specify that “a number” of potential replacements have flagged interest in joining the league should Collingwood withdraw, but stresses the process is ongoing, and that it is “far too premature to say how many and who and what happens next. When and if we’re in that position, we’ll work through that process then’’.

More Coverage

Collingwood Super Netball team’s future in the balance

Linda Pearce

Could this be described as a “pivotal” time for the sport, ahead of a Thursday night AGM in which losses of $7.2 million in the previous two financial years will improve to a modest $300,000 profit in the most recent?

“Not a crossroad,’’ Ryan insisted. “It’s a moment in time, so we’ll deal with that moment in time, but we know that we have an incredibly strong sport, we know that we have an incredibly strong league that is the envy of many countries around the world, and we will continue to make sure it is the world’s best league.

“So plenty of opportunity still exists around netball that has not yet been materialised, and we look forward to focusing our energy on the growth agenda very, very soon.’’