Netball with better rules ...

OPINION: Netball rule changes for the Fastnet series played in England last week were a step in the right direction, writes Nathan Burdon in this week's Straight Up.

The flash-in-a-pan tournament, which was won by the Silver Ferns, featured rule innovations including a power play, a two-point shot from outside the circle and rolling subs.

The only problem with the rule changes was that they didn't go far enough.

If I was running the game, I'd bring in a few more innovations that would help clear up some of the game's problem areas.

The first move would be to bring in some sort of a foul system, where a player would be benched permanently if they racked up more than, say, five personal fouls.

The contact rule in netball is a travesty. The advantage rule is even worse. Something should be done to fix it.

I like the shooting changes, except maybe a shot from outside the circle should be worth three points, it's a handy achievement after all.

I'd also like to take the stepping and held-ball rules out of the game. You could do that easily enough by allowing a player to run with the ball as long as they are bouncing it.

To make it a more entertaining game, you could also have fewer players on the court. It would free up more space and allow for more ball movement. I'd suggest five players would be enough.

While we're at it, how about scrapping the centre pass-off – except to start the game. The team that conceded the last goal should start with the ball from under their own goal.

Those simple changes would make netball an eminently enjoyable and entertaining game. Even the uninitiated would be able to understand it.

On a totally unrelated topic, I'm loving Southland basketball's daring bid to get a team into next year's NBL.

I broke the story several years ago when local businessmen Richard Hoskin, John Frampton, John Grant and Neale Price first tried to get their Southland Sharks franchise up and running and I was as disappointed as anyone when it caved in for want of funding.

In hindsight, the conservative stance taken by the Community Trust of Southland may have actually been the correct one, but seven years on I see little reason that this bid can't be a success.

Basketball fans in Southland have faithfully supported events at Stadium Southland in recent times – not just the tests but the wheelchair championships and even the Otago Nuggets.

Since the Sharks bid fell over, I've wondered why a struggling Nuggets organisation did not look south more often.

People down here obviously want more basketball. A winning team would get an automatic following, I'm sure.

On a parting note, Richard Dickel has done superb things for basketball in Southland, but we need to dump the Flyers moniker. Bring back the Sharks.

» Nathan Burdon has been the Southland Times sports editor since 2003 and has won numerous journalism awards, including provincial sports writer of the year.

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