Australia's flagship netball league is sticking with a largely unpopular 2-point shot but it seems there's little chance that will happen here as long as our top coaches have got anything to do with it.
Jamie Hume shoots for the Northern Stars against the Pulse 2021. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 2-point shot was announced by the Suncorp Super Netball Commission weeks before the start of last year's Australian league, catching players and coaches off guard.
The 'Super Shot' comes into play during the last five minutes of each quarter, giving shooters two points for every successful shot from a 1.9m zone within the goal circle.
It drew a lot of criticism across the Tasman, with players saying they weren't consulted. Fans were shocked that the league would impose the change despite the overwhelming opposition to the move.
It turns out ANZ Premiership coaches were asked if they wanted a 2-point shot before the 2020 ANZ Premiership but the consensus was no.
"We've actually been asked a few times," Stars' coach Kiri Wills said.
"In the end, I think our eyes are on prize in terms of Commonwealth Games and World Cups and very much we want to do what we can to make sure the Silver Ferns are successful and playing as much as we can by the international rules is definitely something that all six coaches want to see happen."
Australia's elite domestic league is set up differently to how it is in New Zealand.
The Suncorp Super Netball Commission is the governing body of the competition and independent from Netball Australia, therefore it has the licence to make decisions that are commercially driven.
Netball New Zealand effectively runs the ANZ Premiership and competition organisers floated the idea of introducing a 2-point shot before last year's season but the coaching group were a unanimous no.
Wills said no new rules would simply be railroaded into the ANZ Premiership competition.
"I think that's one of the things that Netball New Zealand does quite well, is they find somewhere to test the rules before they introduce it to the ANZ level.
"So there's been certain things that have been introduced at ANZ level that they tested prior and things like U23s back in the day or NPC and the Super Club competition was an avenue to test it. We did try two pointers at Under-23s for a year and we decided then that it wasn't really for us."
Northern Stars head coach Kiri Wills Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2018 www.photosport.nz
Silver Ferns' coach Dame Noeline Taurua has said she didn't want to see the 2-point shot brought into the traditional game and ANZ Premiership coaches are on the same page.
Wills said they wanted to operate under rules that would increase the Silver Ferns' chances at pinnacle events.
"I think we've seen what happens over in Australia when they do introduce that and, in the end, we want to win on the world stage and so the 2-point shot takes away from some of the intricacies of working the ball in and out to get the ball closer to the hoop for shooters who potentially aren't okay with shooting the long bombs.
"For us it's about making sure that we can produce the shooters that are going to do the business on the world stage and to have a shooter like Caitlin Bassett come over here because the 2-point shot has taken away from her strength is, I think, a bit of an indication of how that changes things."
Recent research out of Australia's Deakin University found the rule remains considerably divisive among Super Netball players.
Approximately half of the players surveyed felt more positive about the Super Shot following its first season, however approximately 20 percent felt more negative about it following the first year.
Northern Mystics coach Helene Wilson said she was against the rule as a coach but understood why competition organisers had to keep an open mind around innovations.
"We have a performance lens on what we do but there's also a lens for fan engagement and making the game more exciting, so I think you've got to always ask these questions about the game and how you can move the game forward," Wilson said.
"But obviously, from a performance point of view as a coach, you want to give every athlete the opportunity to perform at the highest level within the rules of the game as it stands at this point in time, so you've got to always ask questions; how you can grow the game and how it can be a great product for everybody to enjoy."
Wilson said the Silver Ferns were in a great position to become back to back World Champions.
"And if we want to grow our ability to compete internationally and stay at the top in the world, the way in which we learn to do that is in the ANZ Premiership.
"So training our game in a way that reflects how the game is played around the world is something that I think is positive for all the players to grow.
Southern Steel coach Reinga Bloxham is happy with the status quo.
"They are always looking at ways to make sure that our game is entertaining I suppose, and that we're not just getting stuck doing the same things and it's a way of being creative and innovative but at this stage I think we're happy with the way things are going," Bloxham said.
Australian Diamonds stalwart Caitlin Bassett now plays for the Magic. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"[It was] in the Super Club competition a few years ago, and it was quite successful at the time, but it definitely changes the structure and the way that you play the game."
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic coach Amigene Metcalfe echoed the sentiment that the primary focus of the ANZ Premiership was to develop players to represent the Silver Ferns.
"And while that's [2-point shot] not a component of the international game, I don't think it will ever be part of ours, and I don't think it should be. It's not how international netball is played and I'm hoping it will stay that way," Metcalfe said.
Wills said New Zealand could continue to observe what was happening across the ditch and discuss whether those changes would work for the New Zealand league.
"For example they have time-outs, we've looked at that as a coaching group and talked about it informally but, again, the feeling around that was that it doesn't happen at international level. So you're actually conditioning your players to have a coaching intervention in order to change the momentum of the game and we want our players to be able to change that themselves out on court through strategy and thinking for themselves."
Wills said there was a rule specific to the ANZ Premiership around substitutions that she would like to see brought in at international level.
Rather than faking an injury to sub off, ANZ players simply indicate to the umpire they want to sub off with a player who has stood up on the sideline.
"We're just taking away that little bit of weirdness around, you know the umpires determining if it's a genuine injury - well umpires don't know that, they can't tell that, they're not doctors, so I'm hoping that in time will change at international level."