Netball's salary cap a NZ con job

BY PENNY MILES

Queensland Firebirds netball coach Vicki Wilson has speculated that some New Zealand teams are going outside the ANZ Championship salary cap, threatening the league's sustainability.

On the eve of the Firebirds' first game on New Zealand soil, Wilson said the uneven makeup of the New Zealand teams was a concern.

"I can't believe the makeup of the New Zealand lines," she said in reference to teams such as the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, a shadow Silver Ferns side.

"The Australian teams are all fairly even, but if players all want to go and play in the one team I suppose that's fair enough, but don't try and con us that you're all sitting under the salary cap."

Wilson said there were still risks, even if teams weren't breaking rules and if top players were signing for reasons other than financial incentives. For example, fans and sponsors would soon lose interest in one-sided games.

"Unless you're all playing for peanuts, there is no way you can sit under the salary cap. If people are doing it for the love of it, that's well and good, but you have to be careful that we don't bring the competition to its knees by going outside the salary cap."

The difficult economic climate might bring the situation to a head and had already been illustrated at the Pulse, which has no naming sponsor and is being propped up by Netball New Zealand.

"At the moment the use of third-party payments may dry up and it is placing a lot of pressure on organisations to keep up. It puts you in quite a precarious situation."

The ANZ Championships salary cap was introduced last year to provide a balanced competition.

For each franchise, NZ$300,000 is divided among the 12 contracted players, with $12,000 the minimum payment. While it has worked in Australia, in New Zealand the Magic and Southern Steel are seen as dominant sides this year.

Wilson also stood by comments made in The Brisbane Times earlier this week that the Pulse were boring to watch. "I said I was bored watching the game [Mystics v Pulse]. For me, for a spectator, just sitting there and watching it, I certainly wasn't on the edge of my seat.

"I don't know if it had anything to do with the camera work, but for me just watching it ... if they want to play like that when we play them, well, well and good."

However, Wilson retained some sympathy for the Wellington stragglers because the salary cap was proving ineffective.

The Pulse and the Firebirds, who are both winless, meet in Wellington in round three on Saturday.

- © Fairfax NZ News