Tasman Trophy Netball League
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The Tasman Trophy Netball League will be a netball competition contested between five teams each from both Australia and New Zealand. It will launch in 2008.
It will succeed Australia's Commonwealth Bank Trophy and New Zealand's National Bank Cup. [1]
In 2008, the league will operate as a 17-week tournament from April to July. [2] [3]
The competition format will start with a four-game "half round" where each team will play the other teams from their country. It will then move into a second round where each team will play every other team in the competition once. [4] Some games will be on Monday nights. [5]
All 69 games will be shown live on Fox Sports in Australia and Sky Sports in New Zealand. Fox Sports has signed a one year deal, while Sky Sports has a three year deal. [6] These media rights are believed to be worth AU$1.5 million. [7]
[edit] Teams
According to reports, the likely team list is:
| Name | Organisation/s | 2006 Regional population |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney Swifts (incorporating Hunter Jaegers) | Netball NSW | 6,848,825 |
| Melbourne Phoenix (incorporating Melbourne Kestrels) | Netball Victoria | 5,077,729 |
| Queensland Firebirds | Netball Queensland | 4,064,213 |
| Perth Orioles | WA Netball | 2,050,855 |
| Adelaide Thunderbirds | Netball South Australia | 1,545,188 |
| Auckland Diamonds (incorporating Northern Force) | Netball Auckland Waitakere, Netball Counties Manukau & Netball North | 1,451,538 |
| Hamilton Magic | Netball Waikato, Netball Bay of Plenty & Eastern Netball | 832,374 |
| Wellington Shakers | Netball Wellington & Western Netball | 775,506 |
| Canterbury Flames | Canterbury Netball & Netball Tasman | 683,232 |
| Southern Sting (incorporating Otago Rebels) | Netball Otago & Netball Southland | 284,676 |
Population sources: Australia, NZ
Major unallocated territories: Tasmania (490,467), ACT (330,255) and NT (207,186).
This configuration would result in a loss of the Australian Capital Territory's AIS Canberra Darters and NZ's Western Netball and Eastern Netball's Western Flyers. Both Netball ACT [8]and Western Netball [9] are bidding for franchises however.
Netball Australia chief executive Kate Palmer has said the preferred model was for one team each from NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia. [10]
Netball New South Wales boss Caroline Campbell has said she is disappointed the Sydney Swifts and the Jaegars will have to merge. [11]
Netball Victoria president Jenny Sanchez has said that she had an open mind about whether Victoria would enter one of the two existing teams or a new franchise. [12]
Netball New Zealand chairman Don Mackinnon has said there would be three franchises from the North Island and two from the South Island. [13]
The deadline for expressions of interest for NZ franchises is April 10, with teams for the competition due to be confirmed by the end of April. [14]
