Jennie Wyllie: Netball New Zealand CEO on player eligibility, the Commonwealth Games

Netball officials are at the whim of the Commonwealth Games scheduling as they explore player eligibility options. 

Pressure is mounting on the New Zealand governing body to allow overseas-based athletes to feature for the Silver Ferns. 

The players' association has suggested moving the domestic tournament before or after the Australian competition, so their members can compete in both. 

Netball New Zealand boss Jennie Wyllie told Mike Hosking they don’t control the Commonwealth Games, and it becomes difficult from a broadcast and commercial perspective when it keeps moving. 

She says that ideally, they’d have some certainty, and the Games would sit outside of the window, but they’re at the whim of how the Federations plan it. 

Wyllie's open to shifting the local competition from 2027. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Netball having a bit of a player eligibility tete a
tete at the moment, the players Association want to move
the a n z AT Premiership are to before or
after the Australian Super Netball comp So is this doable?
Jenny Wiley, as Netball New Zealand's Boston is with us.
Good morning, Good morning, with this whole kerfuffle around movement
of competitions and players offshore and eligibility et cetera. How
much trouble is netball in as a sport.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Look, Netball's really strong and I think we're we're working
through a bunch of issues at the moment and it's
not lost on us that it seems like lots of
moving parts, but we're really excited about the direction that
it's heading in.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Can the competition be moved or not?

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yes, it can, and I think if we were going
to explore that further, along with other options, it would
be from twenty twenty seven onwards. We have Commonwealth Games
smack in the middle of July of next year, so
our competition next year will kind of play out around
the same time it is now.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
So if you move and take the comm games into account,
do you then have to take the com games into
account the next time round. If you move it and
it closes again.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Well, that's one of our challenges is we don't control
the timing of the comm games and it makes it
really difficult from a broadcast and commercial perspective when it
does keep on moving. So ideally you'd have some certainty
and colm games would set outside of the window, but
again that comes down to location and who's going to
stay in and who's going to pull out us and

(01:26):
so we're kind of at the whim of how those
you know, the common federations plan it.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
And if you did move the comp is it realistic
to expect top line Australian rock stars would come and
play here or not.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, our intention is we want to have a competition
that is attractive to both Kiwis to play in and Australians,
and we're already seeing some of Australians come and play
here because the opportunities are available to them. So if
you were, you know, similar to a cricket model IPL
where the top flight player can go and earn a

(02:01):
living throughout the competition structure, as opposed to one paymaster
in one location.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
What's your assessment of the top flight players that we
have that have gone is and their effect on damaging
the competition.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Well, I think it's twofold. You want athletes that are
in country giving back to your community, but at the
same time you want them to be able to develop,
and a lot of them are young women that you know,
the oees are important and being able to go and
do things outside of netbook are important. So the challenges
you've got to bring through talent, You've got to create

(02:37):
those personalities, but at the same time look after those
unique cases where they do have the opportunity to go
and develop and live overseas and do something a bit
different with their lives.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Does your gut tell you this will work out well
in the end or you don't know.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Look, it's a bit of a moving feast, but we
as a sport are finding the landscapes really challenging and
we are having to think differently, and that means looking
at our commercial and broadcasting in a different way, but
having to really work with like minded entities around that
actually value women's sport, because that's one of the biggest

(03:14):
things that we face into But Nepels one hundred years old,
our community is growing. It's growing by ten percent year
on year, which is phenomenal given our quantity of people
one hundred and fifty thousand participants. And so our job
is to make sure the longevity of this elite game
for our those really top flight athletes.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Well, I'm Jenny, appreciate it. Jenny Wiley out of Netball
New Zealand this morning.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
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