Netball's Fast5 format will be available to local clubs after the success of the Fast5 World Series at Hisense Arena over the weekend.
The Fast5 enjoyed a crowd of 5148 for Saturday's session which ended with Australia having a 32-29 win over rivals New Zealand. Sunday's session, which included a celebrity game and the grand final, was close to capacity for the event which was around 7000.
Channel Nine's digital channel, GEM, enjoyed a strong ratings return for the match between Australia and New Zealand on Saturday night, with a TV audience of 110,000, and 72,000 over the day, according to OzTam ratings.
Fast5 has previously been played overseas but not in Australia.
Netball Australia chief executive Kate Palmer said the event was a success from a corporate prospective and at the box office, while it has also been released for local competitions to adopt.
"The most important thing is having Nine on board for the first time and they have their whole team here," Palmer said.
"This is their first foray into netball – it's a new dawn for the sport."
Fast5 features a shorter form of the game with five players on court instead of seven and enhanced scoring with two-point shots from the outer circle and three-point shots from outside the goal circle.
The powerplay quarters, worth double-points, also created plenty of excitement especially when New Zealand superstar Maria Tutaia scored three six-point shots in the third quarter.
"We have been working for 18 months with our state bodies on a participation product," Palmer said.
"Our Fast5 participation product is being softly launched and next year it will be available around Australia and around the world.
"We are gifting the product to the international federation and it will be launched in most countries in the world."
There remains the possibility of having state championships and Australian championships for Fast5 as well.
The shooting rules have also kick-started discussions in netball circles about whether the full international game could adopt an outside shot to stop tall shooters being too dominant.
It's understood Netball Australia want the international federation to look into whether adopting an outside shot should be added to the full form of the sport.
0 comments
New User? Sign up