Exclusive: Mystics launch bid to enter Australia's Super Netball competition

The Northern Mystics have launched a bid to join Australia’s Super Netball in 2028.

For the third year in a row, the ANZ Premiership is in limbo as Netball New Zealand (NNZ) attempts to secure a broadcast deal for 2027. The current deal with TVNZ is only for this year; NNZ is using its cash reserves to fund it, and players have taken a 20% pay cut.

Last year, Netball Australia (NA) requested expressions of interest to add two more teams to Super Netball in 2027, growing the competition to 10 sides. However, the expansion was delayed to 2028 because of extended television rights negotiations. NA has since signed a five-year free-to-air deal with Nine through to the end of 2031.

Northern Mystics chief executive Phil Vyver has confirmed to the Herald that the franchise submitted a bid in February to be one of the two Super Netball expansion sides in 2028.

”We think an Auckland-based team is a good option for Netball Australia, but that’s sitting with them at the moment. We haven’t had an update for a little while now. They’re obviously working through their process to understand the different bids, and when we hear from them, we’ll see what the next step might be.”

This weekend, the Mystics will make their fifth grand final appearance in six years. Photo / Photosport

The Northern Mystics will still need the ANZ Premiership to be running next year. Vyver said he did not have any information about NNZ’s plans.

The Mystics are about to make their fourth consecutive ANZ Premiership grand final appearance on Saturday, when they face the Southern Steel in Auckland.

Mystics assistant coach Rob Wright told the Herald that NNZ had said nothing about what was happening next year.

“Personally, I think it’s a disgrace. This is the third year in a row that our competition’s been on a lifeline. My understanding is the worst scenario is that the competition goes to a completely amateur competition, which would be a disaster.”

Wright said joining Super Netball was a no-brainer, but he was unsure of Australia’s appetite, given the exodus of top Kiwi players there last year.

“My concern is Australia’s probably now going, ‘Why would we want a New Zealand team?’ They’ve already got half the Silver Ferns playing there.”

Rob Wright says it is a "disgrace" that NNZ has provided teams with no information about next year's premiership competition. Photo / Getty Image

Vyver said the Mystics’ player leadership group was part of the Super Netball discussions and was supportive.

Fifty-two-test Silver Fern and Mystics goal shoot Maia Wilson said that, if any club had the resource to foot it in Super Netball, it was the Mystics.

“The infrastructure, the support staff that they have behind the scenes, the coaching is the best coaching that I’ve had week in, week out, my whole career. I would love the chance for us to do that. I’d 100% commit to coming back here to the Mystics if that was definitely the case.”

Vyver said joining Super Netball would not necessarily mean leaving New Zealand’s domestic competition.

“Depending on how things went and where the ANZ Premiership goes, there’s potential to have a team based here and a team based playing in Australia. So we were just open to exploring different options for ourselves.”

Maia Wilson (left) believes the Mystics have the infrastructure to make a Super Netball bid work. Photo / Photosport

Vyver said the option of shifting New Zealand’s domestic competition so it did not clash with Super Netball – an idea put on the table by the Players’ Association last year – was back in play.

“From a broadcast point of view, the winter part of the year is quite congested. There is an option to look at either the end or the beginning of the year as a slightly less congested time. I think everything needs to be put on the table and considered.”

He admitted that joining Super Netball would be much more expensive than the current costs of competing at home.

“We would require private investment to make it happen. So we’ve been having some initial conversations around that.”

Wright said he was perplexed as to how the ANZ Premiership continued to fight for survival, and pointed to potentially damaging impacts on New Zealand’s test side.

“Next year’s a World Cup year. What are they doing? We need a competition. Only half of the Silver Ferns play in Australia. What do they expect for the other half of the team?

“Netball is still the biggest female participation sport in the country. The Silver Ferns are ranked second in the world, and yet we struggle to have our own competition. That should be ringing alarm bells for everyone. I’m stunned. I can’t understand it.

“The game’s a brilliant game, and yet we can’t attract either money from broadcast or people don’t want to have it as a product. It blows me away.”

From July, he would effectively be unemployed, he said.

“I’m going to have to start looking now for a job. I’ll look at other leagues around the world because I can’t afford to wait and then find out there’s nothing.”

Athletes are facing a similar conundrum. The signing window for Australia’s Super Netball sides is scheduled to begin after the grand final on July 4. The signing window for the UK’s Super League, which attracted former Silver Fern Tiana Metuarau last year, opened on June 22 and ends on August 31.

Silver Ferns Kelly Jackson, Maddy Gordon and Te Paea Selby-Rickit have all joined the Queensland Firebirds. Photo / Photosport

Wright said the Kiwi-based players had decisions to make.

“Four teams are finished, and they’re wondering, are they all unemployed now? What do you do if Australia come knocking when Netball New Zealand’s not saying a thing about what’s next year? If an offer came up, why wouldn’t you take it?”

NNZ has undergone major leadership changes after last year’s Dame Noeline Taurua employment saga and the previous battle for an ANZ Premiership broadcast deal.

Jane Patterson took over as interim CEO from Jennie Wyllie in January, with Jennah Wootten to inherit the role after the Commonwealth Games.

Patterson has repeatedly declined interview requests from the Herald since stepping into the role, giving her sole interview in April when Briony Akle was announced as Silver Ferns assistant coach.

Netball New Zealand interim chief executive Jane Patterson (right) with coach Dame Noelene Taurua. Patterson has given just one interview to the Herald since assuming the role in January. Photo / Photosport

As a coach, Wright said things felt no different now compared to NNZ’s previous leadership regime.

“There still seems to be no information coming out. There seems to be a shroud of secrecy on everything still. So it doesn’t look any different to me, but I’m only a coach; I don’t deal with them a lot. But from an outsider looking in, there doesn’t seem to be much change.”

Last year, NNZ changed Silver Ferns eligibility rules so that top players could receive exemptions to play overseas but remain available for test selection. It saw Karin Burger, Kelly Jackson, Kate Heffernan, Grace Nweke, Maddy Gordon, Te Paea Selby-Rickit, Jane Watson and Whitney Souness all leave the ANZ Premiership to join Super Netball.

NNZ was bowing to public pressure from the athletes and Taurua, who wanted them to play in a higher-quality domestic competition. However, Wright said it was a bad move by the governing body.

“It was a really big mistake of Netball New Zealand to allow those players to go and play in Australia, because they’ve basically said the ANZ Premiership’s not good enough in reality.

“So all of a sudden, how do you attract international players? How do we move forward if all our players are going and playing in other competitions?”

The Herald approached both NNZ and NA for comment.

NA said, “While the timelines for Suncorp Super Netball expansion are not feasible for 2027, we remain committed to exploring and evaluating opportunities for future growth.”

NNZ said, “Resolving the future of our domestic competition is a major focus for Netball New Zealand and its recently refreshed board.

“A decision on the future of the current ANZ Premiership competition hasn’t been made, but the board is meeting multiple times this month to continue working through the options.

“We acknowledge this period is difficult for our athletes, coaches, umpires, and teams, who naturally are looking for certainty regarding their near futures. That is front of mind as we work through this process, and we will provide clarity as soon as we can.”

Nathan Limm has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast and commentates rugby and netball for Gold Sport.