The Covid reshuffle has hit every sport in Australia, and one has been forced to abandon games this weekend to get everyone on the same page.
Netball Australia boss Kelly Ryan has revealed there were moments this week when continuing the Super Netball season seemed almost impossible due to the country‘s evolving Covid crisis.
Super Netball will go into hiatus this weekend before the season restarts mid next week when players and coaches currently in quarantine are expected to be able to rejoin their teams.
Ryan, who has been in the chair for just over a fortnight, said the work done to ensure the season could continue could not be overestimated.
“There were many, many moments of pressure but not one person said: ‘I think it’s time we should stop’,” Ryan said.
“We will find a way. We don‘t know what that way looks like, we may have more problems but we will get through it.
“It‘s okay not to have all the answers but knowing how to work your way through (problems) is critical and that has been a collective effort from the entire sport.”
The break gives teams that have faced cross-country scrambles to beat Covid-enforced lockdowns in Victoria and South Australia, some breathing room before games restart from mid next week.
The break will address the lack of broadcast infrastructure in Queensland after the state suddenly became the epicentre of Australian professional sport with the AFL and NRL competitions also hubbing in the southeast corner.
But Ryan said the mental wellbeing of players, coaches and officials was at the heart of the decision.
“We had a lot of practical, logistical issues without a doubt but we also had a lot of emotional issues that we wanted to resolve,” she said.
“That was the fact that we have continued to pick people up and move them around and it‘s exhausting.
“We have our own deadlines and we can do whatever we want to get this season done and that‘s the approach that we’ve taken.”
While midweek fixtures will be a feature Ryan said scheduling would be “different”.
“It‘s not going to be what people would expect,” she said.
“We‘ve had to take some creative licence with how we finish out the remaining three home-and-away games and we also at the same time want to be able to play out finals in the way that we think they deserve to be played out.
“Putting all that in the mix means we‘ve come up with a fixture that will hopefully give everyone a good opportunity to see netball for the rest of the season but it’ll make sure that we can play out our finals series in the fashion it needs to be played out in.”
With the final fixture not yet locked in, Ryan would not preempt the grand final date but it’s likely to be mid to late August, with the league to remain in southeast Queensland.
“There‘s been so many things out of our control,” Ryan said.
“We‘ve had some amazing, really powerful conversations at really short notice, really big decisions at short notice but that collaboration and everybody being on the same page has meant that when we’ve backed in a decision – and not everyone has agreed with it – when the collective decides on it, everyone gets on and moves forward.”
Swifts coach Briony Akle remains in isolation in Adelaide with two of her sons after being identified as a close contact of patrons who attended a tier one exposure site in Melbourne last week, while the team physio also remains in Adelaide with her young children.
Akle hopes not to miss a match with her isolation period likely to finish before the Swifts‘ next match.
Queensland Firebirds player Tippah Dwan is isolating at home in Brisbane after being linked to a tier one exposure site in Melbourne when the club was part of the Super Netball Victorian hub.
Dwan missed the Firebirds‘ win over Queensland rivals the Sunshine Coast Lightning on Monday night but could be available for their next match if it is held on Wednesday or later.
But the Firebirds‘ suffered a massive blow yesterday when it was confirmed defender Tara Hinchliffe had suffered a torn ACL after a training accident at the weekend and would miss the rest of the season.
Hinchliffe, who joined the Diamonds squad as a train-on player earlier this year, was enjoying a breakout year but her injury ends her hopes of a Constellation Cup tour.