Linda Pearce is the Chief Tennis Writer and general sports reporter for The Age. She writes about a range of sports, including football, netball, and gymnastics. Linda has twice been named Australian tennis writer of the year.
Senior netball officials suggested making an unprecedented attempt to influence the broadcast coverage of player protests staged at last weekend's round of Super Netball matches, by limiting the input of high-profile commentator and outspoken board critic Liz Ellis in particular.
Deposed Netball Australia director and former chair Anne-Marie Corboy has warned against underestimating the threat posed by the AFL Women's league in the newly-competitive national environment, while staying cautiously optimistic that the power play orchestrated by the state associations will not derail netball's recent progress.
The final act in an unprecedented netball week hijacked by boardroom manoeuvring and threats of retaliatory disruption by the players' association will be played out on the court in Sydney on Sunday afternoon.
Industrial action expected to disrupt weekend's Super Netball as Netball Australia board fails to re-elect former national captain Kathryn Harby-Williams as a director.
Netball greats Catherine Cox and Liz Ellis have savaged the suggestion that players would be prepared to exploit landmark parental leave provisions simply to win themselves a so-called paid "holiday/break" – a claim the Australian Netball Players' Association allege was raised during last year's collective bargaining negotiations.
The dramatic public airing of netball's dirty laundry is believed to have enhanced the board re-election prospects of the players' preferred candidate, but a sit-down protest during the weekend's Super Netball round is still a possibility.
Australia's best netballers, including Diamonds captain Sharni Layton, are threatening drastic action over an explosive board-level power play threatening to rip apart the new Super Netball competition.
Netball Australia is in political turmoil, with board chair Anne-Marie Corboy standing down after less than a year in the post and then ousted as a director at a special general meeting.
The Magpies are still not in positive territory after following a loss with a win for a fourth consecutive time, but Friday's 56-43 defeat of the West Coast Fever at Hisense Arena means that, for now at least, the pre-season favourites are in Super Netball's top four.
Lisa Alexander suggests Collingwood's big-name roster only has one "world-class experienced player".
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