An Idiot’s Guide to the ANZ Championship
One issue that has been brought back to the forefront of my attention as a result of reactions to Making The Nut’s February 9 piece about Kelli Underwood and the role of women in sports coverage is that both female sportspeople and female journalists/ broadcasters rarely get the best of it when it comes opportunities and exposure within the mainstream media. Indeed, it is often much more difficult to find quality sources of material for researching a piece on women’s sport than it is for the equivalent male sports. One such example is the ANZ Championship, a competition between ten clubs (five based in Australia, five in New Zealand) that features the premier two netballing nations in the world and could be described as the netball equivalent of the Super 15 rugby union tournament, yet would struggle to receive one-tenth of the exposure. As a part research project/ part sociological experiment, can a netball idiot like me find enough reputable material to write a coherent piece and avoid bringing both this site and the sport of netball into disrepute? Only one way to find out…
Q: I’m a complete novice – what are the basics of the game?
A: Netball originated as a variation on basketball and a number of the underlying premises remain very similar. However, there are aspects of how netball is played where Australian Rules football provides the best analogy (we’ll come to these later on).
A netball court is slightly larger than a basketball court and is divided into thirds – these markings regulate where individuals of each position are allowed to move. There is a "centre circle" used to begin/ resume play at the beginning of each quarter and after each goal, and at each end of the court there is a semi-circular "shooting circle" or "goal circle" from within which all scoring shots must be taken. The goal posts are the same height as for basketball but the netball ring is slightly smaller in diameter, there are no backboards and a full-size netball is marginally smaller than a full-size basketball. Netball games are played in four quarters (much as in many levels of basketball – college basketball in the US being a notable exception), with each quarter lasting fifteen minutes.
There are seven players on each team, with each player assigned to a nominated position. Each player must wear a bib (or other marking) which indicates that player's position and by extension, which areas of the court they are allowed into: a player in a section of court that is not part of their playing area is deemed "offside". The positions (and some analogies to Australian Rules football) are described below:
Goal Keeper (GK): This player can only move within and across the defensive goal third and the defensive shooting circle, with their primary job being to shut down the Goal Shooter. This position is netball’s equivalent to your old-school Aussie rules fullback – Liz Ellis was the Steven Silvagni of netball for over a decade and currently holds the record for most appearances for the national side with 122 caps.
Goal Defence (GD): Has a little bit more freedom than the GK, being able to move within and across the "defensive" goal third and centre third, as well as within the shooting circle. Their primary job is to shut down the Goal Attack and begin any transitional attacking plays. Kind of like Glenn Jakovich used to do as the centre half-back for West Coast. Mo’onia Gerard has been performing this role for the national side for a number of years now and is closing in on 50 appearances for the Australian Diamonds.
Wing Defence (WD): This player’s job is to defend the Wing Attack and the wing areas more broadly – they can move within and across the defensive goal third and centre third, but never inside the defensive shooting circle. If you can imagine a half-back flanker’s role, you’re on the right track. Although the WD’s in the ANZ Championship are all much better looking than former Carlton defensive stalwart Bruce Doull.
Centre (C): This player can move in all areas except the shooting circles. Their role can flip back and forward quickly between trying to find vacant space in attack and trying to shut down their direct opponent, making for a neat parallel with many ‘on-ballers’ in Australian Rules. Natalie Von Bertouch is the best in the business at centre – she’s the vice-captain of the national side and has made 59 appearances for Australia.
Wing Attack (WA): This player can move within and across the attacking goal third and centre third, but not into the attacking shooting circle – much like a half-forward flanker. As far as I can gather (a timely reminder that I’m a netball idiot), Queensland Firebirds player Lauren Nourse is the current WA-elect for the Australian side.
Goal Attack (GA): This player can move within and across the attacking goal third, shooting circle, and centre third areas. The GA and Goal Shooter are the only two players allowed to shoot for goal – with the slightly greater roaming role of the GA, they could be considered akin to a centre half-forward. Much as Liz Ellis was the netball equivalent of Steven Silvagni, Australian Diamonds’ captain Sharelle McMahon has been the netball equivalent of Wayne Carey circa mid-to-late 1990s – with 118 international caps to her name, she is on the verge of passing Liz Ellis as Australia’s most capped player.
Goal Shooter (GS): They can only move within the attacking goal third including the shooting circle, a bit like an old-school full forward. The best sharp-shooters have a success percentage of almost 90 per cent – anything worse than around 80 per cent can do severe damage to the winning hopes of the side. Catherine Cox has been the go-to shooter for the Australian side in recent years, although for an example of the ideal GS prototype it’s hard to go past former South African international and current New Zealand international Irene Van Dyk. Imagine sticking Aaron Sandilands in the goal square and bombing it to him for contested marks and you get some sense of the troubles that the 6-foot-3 Van Dyk has inflicted on defenders worldwide. As an aside, I’m not entirely sure how she was permitted to change representative countries mid-career – maybe the international netball rules work in the same way as the Olympic rules for former Kenyan runners who now competing for Denmark, Switzerland, etc.
Now here’s where parallels to almost any other sport end for a moment – netball rules do not permit players to let their landing foot touch the ground again if it is lifted at all while in possession of the ball, although they are entitled to balance on the other foot if the landing foot is lifted. Essentially, the ball has to be moved by passing to a teammate within three seconds of taking possession. Does the inability to move with the ball in hand make the game a bit stop-start? Not necessarily. You see, much as an AFL player may begin a lead into space just as their teammate further up the ground is about to take a mark and play on, so too can a GA begin to break into a vacant part of the court as a pass from the WD to the WA is still in midair, such that the WA only has possession for a fraction of a second before finding the GA leading into space. In that sense it’s a game of almost perpetual motion – stationary players don’t progress far in netball. The only time that the play really slows down is when a shot for goal is being taken, not unlike a set shot in Australian Rules football.
Contact between players is only permitted provided it does not impede with an opponent or the general play, and players must be at least three feet away from a player with the ball while attempting to defend. If impeding contact is made, you’ll hear a call of “contact” or “obstruction” from the referee and a penalty is awarded, with the infringing player being made to stand "out of play" until the player taking the penalty has passed the ball.
At the beginning of every quarter or after a goal is scored, play starts from the centre of the court with a centre pass. Only the two centres from each team are allowed in the centre-third of the court – when the umpire blows the whistle to restart play, players in other positions can then move into the centre third, where the centre pass must be caught or touched. Anyone who has seen a ‘huddle’ style kick out after a behind in the AFL will know the drill – a host of players taking off in various directions to either present themselves for the pass or try to force a turnover. The centre passes alternate between the teams regardless of which team scored the last goal, and with good reason – the best netball teams score a goal on a high percentage of occasions with the ball in hand. While a possession that fails to result in a goal isn’t quite as significant as say, a break of serve in tennis, they are still the exception rather than the rule.
Q: I have the basics now – how does this ANZ Championship fit into the picture?
A: As noted above, the ANZ Championship is contested by ten teams, five from Australia and five from New Zealand. It was launched in 2008 as a successor to the Commonwealth Bank Trophy in Australia and the National Bank Cup in New Zealand, both of which were retired after 2007. It also saw netball become a semi-professional sport in both countries, with increased media coverage and player salaries. The ten ANZ Championship teams are as follows:
Australia: Adelaide Thunderbirds, Melbourne Vixens, New South Wales Swifts, Queensland Firebirds, West Coast Fever.
New Zealand: Canterbury Tactix, Central Pulse, Northern Mystics, Southern Steel, Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic
The 2011 regular season will consist of a 12-week round-robin stage, where each team plays 13 matches – playing the other four teams from their own country twice and the five teams from the other country once. Much as in the AFL, the competition ladder uses percentage (goals scored as a percentage of goals conceded) as a tie-breaker for teams who are equal on competition points. The four highest-ranked teams at the end of the round-robin phase progress to the finals series. The finals series is played over three weeks with the 1st-ranked team hosting the 2nd-ranked team in the major semi-final while 3rd hosts 4th in the minor semi-final, the loser of which is eliminated. The loser of the major semi-final hosts the winner of the minor semi-final in the preliminary final. The grand final is contested between the winner of the major semi-final and the winner of the preliminary final.
With television coverage on One HD in Australia and SKY Sports in New Zealand, ANZ Bank signing on as the league's major sponsor and both Holden and Office Max acting as associate sponsors, the ANZ Championship has sufficient funding to operate as a semi-professional competition. Whilst players are paid wages substantially higher than those applicable in previous competitions, they are still too low to facilitate players to make a living solely from the sport. Franchises are each restricted to a NZ$300,000 (or around A$24.95 these days) salary cap from which player salaries are paid. As in most other professional sports, salary amounts will of course vary among players, but each player receives a retainer of at least NZ$12,000 per season; high-profile players are expected to earn up to NZ$50,000. The effectiveness of the salary cap has been called into question on a number of occasions – most notably in 2009, when Queensland Firebirds coach Vicki Wilson speculated that the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic, who at the time had seven current or former Silver Ferns players, were not complying with the salary cap. The Magic denied this claim.
Q: Okay, let’s get to the important stuff – who are the contenders and pretenders?
A: The 2011 season is predicted to shake out in a similar vein to previous years, with the most successful teams in previous years heading the premiership markets for 2011. Rather than embarrass myself by trying to place teams into a ‘power rankings’ order, the premiership betting markets provided by Sportsbet will do the job for me.
*Please note: Australian Diamonds player lists refer to all players in the Commonwealth Games squad and/ or the squad for the recent series against Jamaica, whilst New Zealand Silver Ferns player lists refer to all players in the squad for the most recent series against England plus two players who only missed the series through injury.
Australian teams
New South Wales Swifts ($2.75 favourite to win the premiership)
2008: 10 wins – 3 losses (champions). 2009: 2-11 (ninth place). 2010: 13-0 (preliminary finalists).
Australian Diamonds players (5): Catherine Cox, Mo’onia Gerard, Rebecca Bulley, Susan Pratley, Kimberlee Green
How bizarre does the Swifts’ season-by-season record look? The closest thing I can remember to a side going from 2-11 to a season sweep before getting knocked out the finals in straight sets was almost the reverse case – in 1989 South Sydney were the minor premiers in the NSW Rugby League competition, exited the finals series in straight sets and promptly won the wooden spoon in 1990. With Mo’onia Gerard being added to an already imposing Swifts line-up, I’m not going to question their favouritism for the title.
Melbourne Vixens ($4.00)
2008: 9-4 (minor semi-finalists). 2009: 12-1 (champions). 2010: 6-7 (seventh place).
Australian Diamonds players (4): Sharelle McMahon, Renee Hallinan, Kate Beveridge, Madison Browne
Much as with the Swifts last year, it’s unwise to put the pen through a former champion coming off a disappointing letdown year. Given that the Swifts went from champions to non-finalists in 2009, the Vixens followed suit in 2010 and the Thunderbirds are favoured to follow that trend in 2011, I think the ‘championship hangover’ rationale can be invoked here and the Vixens can be expected to bounce back as a title contender in 2011.
Queensland Firebirds ($5.50)
2008: 7-6 (fifth place). 2009: 8-5 (fifth place). 2010: 7-6 (fifth place).
Australian Diamonds players (4): Lauren Nourse, Laura Geitz, Natalie Medhurst, Amy Steel
To quote Cold Chisel, the Firebirds have been ‘standing on the outside looking in’ when it comes to the finals picture in each of the first three seasons. However the lack of depth of the New Zealand sides and the expected drop-off for the Thunderbirds has seemingly left the door open for the Firebirds to make their inaugural finals appearance in 2011.
Adelaide Thunderbirds ($11)
2008: 9-4 (preliminary finalists). 2009: 10-3 (grand finalists). 2010: 9-4 (champions) in 2010.
Australian Diamonds players (1): Natalie Von Bertouch
Here is a team that appears to be a long way over the odds at $11 when you look solely at their performances over the past three seasons. It’s only when you bear in mind the potential for a premiership hangover, the loss of key defender Mo’onia Gerard to the Swifts in the off-season and the shellacking they were handed by the Swifts (60 goals to 40) in their Round one encounter that the price starts to make sense.
West Coast Fever ($67)
2008: 2-10-1 (ninth place). 2009: 5-8 (seventh place). 2010: 4-9 (eighth place) in 2010.
Australian Diamonds players (1): Susan Fuhrmann
The poor old Fever – their record would likely be a couple of wins per season better if they got to play eight games against New Zealand sides and only five against Australian sides, rather than the other way around. Unless they can start upsetting the other Australian sides on a regular basis, a position on the lower half of the ladder will continue to be their destiny.
New Zealand teams
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic ($6.50)
2008: 10-3 (grand finalists). 2009: 11-2 (preliminary finalists). 2010: 9-4 (grand finalists).
New Zealand Silver Ferns players (3): Irene Van Dyk, Laura Langman, Casey Williams
The Magic have been the benchmark New Zealand team in all three seasons played to date, and with a reasonable expectation of four wins against the lowly Pulse and Tactix in 2011, it’s hard to envisage them winning less than eight games. A fourth consecutive finals berth therefore beckons.
Northern Mystics ($17)
2008: 5-8 (seventh place). 2009: 3-10 (eighth place). 2010: 7-6 (sixth place).
New Zealand Silver Ferns players (5): Joline Henry, Anna Scarlett, Maria Tutaia, Temepara George, Grace Rasmussen
Southern Steel ($21)
2008: 7-6 (sixth place). 2009: 8-5 (minor semi-finalists). 2010: 8-5(minor semi-finalists).
New Zealand Silver Ferns players (3): Leana De Bruin, Liana Leota, Daneka Wiati
I’m bracketing these teams because I don’t know enough to provide two separate comments. These teams are the two clear challengers to the Magic in terms of the Kiwi contingent – if either team could sweep the matches against the Pulse and Magic and break even against the Australian sides and their two main NZ opponents, this would result in eight or nine wins and a likely finals berth.
Central Pulse ($67)
2008: 0-12-1 (tenth place). 2009: 1-12 (tenth place). 2010: 1-12 (ninth place).
New Zealand Silver Ferns players (2): Katrina Grant, Camilla Lees
How is a team that has only had two wins and a draw from 39 appearances in the ANZ Championship not the rank outsider to win the competition this year? You have to feel a bit sorry for Pulse fans when three wins for the season could be viewed in a positive light.
Canterbury Tactix ($101)
2008: 5-8 (eighth place). 2009: 5-8 (sixth place). 2010: 1-12 (tenth place).
New Zealand Silver Ferns players (1): Anna Thompson
Oh dear – perhaps this is why the Pulse aren’t ranked last. Given that each team plays the other four teams from the country twice, the only way that the Pulse and Tactix could have both finished with a 1-12 record was if they each won one of the two games against each other and both lost all eleven games to the other eight sides. I’ll go out on a limb and say that the $67 for the Pulse and $101 for the Tactix are both still well under the odds.
What about players to watch?
Beyond those noted above who represent their respective national sides, there’s not a lot of information that can be readily found to give some insights on this front, beyond the players who have received individual awards over the past three seasons – details are set out below:
Most Valuable Player
The official Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is given to players who receive the most votes from coaches throughout the season, with votes awarded on a 3-2-1 basis for each match of the round-robin series. Past MVP winners are noted below:
2008: Romelda Aiken (Firebirds) and Sonia Mkoloma (Pulse)
2009: Romelda Aiken (Firebirds)
2010: Liana Leota (Steel)
Broadcasters' Player of the Year
The Broadcasters' Player of the Year award is given to players who receive the most votes from match commentators throughout the season, with votes also awarded on a 3-2-1 basis for each match of the round-robin series. Past winners of this award are noted below (noting that from 2010 onwards, two winners are declared – the top vote-getters from each of Australia and New Zealand. It’s unclear why this change was deemed necessary):
2008: Casey Williams (Magic)
2009: Natalie von Bertouch (Thunderbirds)
2010 (Aust): Rebecca Bulley (Swifts)
2010 (NZ): Laura Langman (Magic)
So there you have it – the nuts and bolts of the ANZ Championship, with a few tangents thrown into the mix. Will the piece bring the Making The Nut website and the sport of netball into disrepute? Only time will tell – if this website is in the hands of liquidators within a month, it would be fair to suggest that the article missed its mark. But perhaps the more telling point is this – the third most helpful website for researching names and figures for this piece (behind the official ANZ Championship and Netball Australia websites) was Wikipedia. The mainstream media websites simply weren’t carrying enough material to provide meaningful assistance in such a project. For a sport which is amongst the most popular in Australia in terms of numbers of registered players, and where the two premier playing countries in the world have joined forces to create an elite ‘semi-domestic’ competition with multiple international stars playing in almost every match-up (much as with the Super 15 rugby union competition), it’s a disconcerting situation to be faced with.
Thanks to Phil Walter/Getty Images AsiaPac for use of the photo
