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After months of silence, Netball New Zealand has finally sat down with ANZ Premiership players to discuss the future of the domestic competition – but the long-awaited meeting produced few answers.

RNZ has learned a group of players met with the governing body for the first time on Wednesday night, just days after the season ended, after lobbying by the New Zealand Netball Players’ Association for a seat at the table.

Silver Ferns midcourter Mila Reuelu-Buchanan, who is part of a player working group representing all six ANZ Premiership teams, said the meeting was long overdue.

“It was a really good opportunity for us to share our perspectives and to be heard as a playing group. It was the first time we’ve actually had a meeting with them and been part of conversations and the Players’ Association really pushed to have us there and I believe we should be there, we should be part of the conversations.”

It is the third straight year players have entered the ANZ Premiership season without certainty over the competition’s future, with Netball NZ relying on a series of short-term broadcast deals to keep the league going. But with the season now over and still no announcement about next year, the competition has never looked more vulnerable.

The governing body has yet to outline its plans for next season and has given no guarantee the league will continue in its current form. There is also no broadcast agreement in place beyond 2026.

Reuelu-Buchanan said the players were frustrated it had taken so long to get around the table with the national body.

“We’ve been told the same things year after year but it’s just worsened. You put your trust and confidence in those leading the space only to be let down year after year but look that’s in the past and we want to focus on ensuring that we have some sort of pathway for our players here.

“We’re the ones living and breathing the sport and there’s so much value in having player input. Netball New Zealand acknowledged that they should have had us in conversations earlier, but they also assured us that moving forward we will be working together in whatever way that looks like.”

At the end of a turbulent year for Netball NZ, Jennie Wyllie stepped down as CEO in December after nearly a decade in the role. Earlier this year several members of the Netball NZ board stepped down, including long-standing chair Matt Whineray.

In April, Alastair Carruthers was named Netball NZ’s new chair and in May, Jennah Wootten its new chief executive. Jane Patterson has been acting as interim chief executive since January and will hand over the reins to Wootten in the middle of August.

Reuelu-Buchanan said they also acknowledged there had been a reshuffle at Netball New Zealand.

“People have come in and kind of inherited these massive challenges. I just believe that if we work together something positive can come.”

She said Netball NZ were not able to share any real updates about what its plans are for the domestic competition, nor any guarantees that the six current franchises will survive into next year.

“There wasn’t really much information that they could give us and obviously it becomes frustrating because people need to know do I need to find a job or what do I need to do if this is not going ahead.

“It’s important moving forward we work together and we [as players] get to discuss what it is that we want and how we can get there. But again I’m not sure what that looks like, there really wasn’t much information that came from that.”

Reuelu-Buchanan, who captains the Stars franchise, said the player working group had been established to be the vital link for the athletes.

“We have a player rep from each team plus two or more players and we’ve been meeting regularly to discuss the issues or questions that we wanted to ask Netball New Zealand as we headed into that. And a few of those players will be part of the next process of what is the competition looking like, the bargaining side of things.”

See the potential
Netball continues to be the most popular sport for women and girls in New Zealand by some distance. It is the most played sport at high school level.

Coupled with that, Reuelu-Buchanan believes the ANZ Premiership is a quality product, and the players highly marketable so she can’t fathom why investors are not seeing the potential in the sport.

“It actually blows my mind that we are here, I thought that investors would be banging down the doors wanting to be part of this incredible environment that we’ve created. It makes me wonder you know what are we missing?

“What more do we need to show to get investors on board with us because all these players are incredible women who work extremely hard. These players have the most incredible characters and personalities and are extremely passionate about the sport we love.”

Two weeks ago Reuelu-Buchanan was named in the Silver Ferns team for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, in what will be her first pinnacle tournament.

She said despite the uncertainty around the domestic competition, the Silver Ferns will be able to switch focus as they prepare for the Games, which start later this month.

“What I’ve learned over the last couple of years is that we can still get the job done when there are challenges around us. You learn to just kind of get on with it, we have a job to do and a lot of the players in the Silver Ferns have been around for a little while.”

Reuelu-Buchanan’s Silver Ferns team-mate Amelia Walmsley told RNZ on Wednesday that players will be forced to look overseas or leave netball altogether if Netball NZ doesn’t quickly come up with a plan.

“So like Amelia and like myself, we want to advocate for those who don’t know how to use their voices and we’ve been given the blessing and support by the Silver Ferns staff.

“But once we get into Silver Ferns camp on Monday, we will really hone in on that and we won’t be part of the conversations and the Players Association obviously want us to just purely focus on Comm Games. We trust that the other players, who will be part of those conversations, will be massive advocates for all of us.”

Is she confident that there will be a league next year?

“That’s a really challenging question … it makes me sad that I can’t confidently say yes. I’m confident that something’s going to happen, I don’t know what that looks like and playing for New Zealand is the ultimate honour but the Silver Ferns don’t exist without the pathways beneath them.

“We need to ensure we have a thriving, sustainable competition that continues to develop home-grown talent so I hope and pray that there will be something because that’s what scares me the most is if there isn’t then what does the future look like for netball?”

New All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has been true to his word of selecting on form, handing the reins at first-five to Ruben Love.

Rennie had also named debutants Fehi Fineanganofo and Xavier Numia on the bench for the first test of the Nations Championship against France in Christchurch on Saturday.

Veteran Beauden Barrett has been omitted from the 23, with Damian McKenzie getting the nod at fullback and Will Jordan taking the 14 jersey.

In the hotly contested mid-field, Quinn Tupaea wins the race for centre with Billy Proctor on the pine, while Luke Jacobson has edged out Wallace Sititi to start at openside, skipper Ardie Savea at number eight.

Sam Darry and Josh Lord start at lock with Tupou Vai’i dealing with concussion.

Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor and Fletcher Newell make up the starting front row.

Rennie said the 23 is reflective of Super Rugby form, as well as crucial Test match experience.

“There is no doubt players have forced our hand as selectors through quality Super Rugby performances. We have selected an exciting blend of experience and youth, with a powerful bench that will add impact.”

All Blacks team to play France:

(Test caps in brackets)

1. Ethan de Groot (40)

2. Codie Taylor (106)

3. Fletcher Newell (35)

4. Josh Lord (12)

5. Sam Darry (8)

6. Peter Lakai (8)

7. Luke Jacobson (24)

8. Ardie Savea (106) (Captain)

9. Cam Roigard (17)

10. Ruben Love (5)

11. Caleb Clarke (33)

12. Jordie Barrett (78)

13. Quinn Tupaea (24)

14. Will Jordan (54)

15. Damian McKenzie (74)

Bench:

16. Asafo Aumua (20)

17. Xavier Numia *

18. Tyrel Lomax (48)

19. Patrick Tuipulotu (56)

20. Wallace Sititi (19)

21. Cortez Ratima (21)

22. Billy Proctor (11)

23. Fehi Fineanganofo *

Unavailable due to injury: Tupou Vaa’i (concussion)

Captain Harry Kane came to England’s rescue as they came from a goal down in a battling 2-1 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo to seal their place in the last 16 at the FIFA World Cup.

Kane rifled home the winner four minutes from time, after equalising in the 75th minute, spinning away from his marker before heading home Anthony Gordon’s cross.

Brian Cipenga gave DR Congo a shock seventh-minute lead, the unmarked winger taking control of the ball wide in the box before drilling a low strike with his right foot to beat keeper Jordan Pickford at his near post.

Congolese keeper Lionel Mpasi made excellent saves from Jude Bellingham and Kane, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka blocking a goalbound effort from Marcus Rashford.

At the other end, Yoane Wissa hit the post from inside the six-yard area before the break.

England will play Mexico in the last 16 at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday.

NEW YORK/ATLANTA, July 1 : Karina Guerra did not mind waiting an hour to get her sought-after World Cup souvenir this week in East Rutherford, New Jersey – after all, she didn’t pay a dime for it.

While the 2010 World Cup had vuvuzelas and the 2018 edition the foam Kokoshnik (traditional Russian headdress), the must-have accessory for the 2026 tournament appears to be “fan bands,” free charm wristlets that have turned traditional marketing on its head.

More than 700,000 have been snapped so far at the tournament, with fans reserving appointments to make the customisable bracelets at fan festivals and scooping up premade versions distributed by sponsor Bank of America outside stadiums on match days.

“Last time we waited for two hours,” said Guerra, a fan from El Salvador who said she had collected four of the bracelets so far, snubbing the kiosks of pricey merchandise that awaited her just beyond the gates at New York New Jersey Stadium. 

“It’s spectacular. It is something very original.”

Fans select charms specific to host cities – New York’s collection includes a slice of pizza and the Statue of Liberty – with a new collection of charms for the Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final announced this week.

What fans won’t see, however, is branding that has become ubiquitous in sports marketing. Bank of America may be the sponsor but their name isn’t on the bands, with their logo sneaking into the giveaway.

“The one thing fans sometimes don’t catch is there is a flagscape bead – there’s one that looks like a flag. And that is actually the Bank of America logo.

“But people perceive it as it’s the 250th anniversary (of the United States), (or) it’s a celebration of the U.S. Men’s National team,” said Bank of America’s Head of Sports and Entertainment Marketing Cindy Nguyen Thomas.

“To see it go viral the way it did as quick as it did very organically surpassed our expectations.”

Bank of America plans to release two million bands, which have already shown up on resale platforms with asking prices ranging from around $50 to $500. 

“That’s a part of the virality is understanding that it’s limited edition,” said Nguyen Thomas, whose team drew inspiration from the friendship bracelets at Taylor Swift’s record-smashing “Eras Tour” in the quest to become the hottest item at the World Cup.

‘ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME ITEM’

The campaign is a marketing counterpunch in a tournament hallmarked by sky-high ticket prices, expensive merchandise and relentless in-stadium advertising, with newly implemented “hydration breaks” allowing for even more ad dollars to flow.

The stadiums themselves have been denuded of their own prior corporate branding in favour of geographic names – MetLife Stadium, for one, became “New York New Jersey Stadium” – as brands must shell out even to be associated with the world’s largest sporting event. Bank of America paid a reported $100 million for its sponsorship deal with FIFA.

“There’s just an inundation of brands all over the place,” said Lauren Anderson, director of the Warsaw Sports Business Center at the University of Oregon.

“Society is kind of trying to turn a little bit away from all the like trinkets and trash and junk. And if it’s something you’re going to keep, you maybe don’t want a brand slapped all over it.”

While many corporate freebies often seem destined for the rubbish bin, fans at matches in Atlanta and East Rutherford, New Jersey, lined up for over an hour this week for the bracelets they said would stay a treasured memento.

Noah Sigal was at New York New Jersey Stadium when the gates opened and waited an hour-and-a-half in line to collect a fan band on Tuesday, where France beat Sweden in the Round of 32. He has no intention of selling.

“This is all like a once-in-a-lifetime item. You’re never going to get it anywhere else,” he said. “I’m going to keep this forever.”

TORONTO, July 1 : Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said his team will approach the knockout stage like a “second World Cup” when they face Croatia in their round of 32 clash in Toronto on Thursday.

Portugal were held to draws by DR Congo and Colombia either side of a 5-0 win over Uzbekistan as they finished second in Group K behind the Colombians in a tough opening stage.

“Tomorrow we will begin the second World Cup, the preparation was very important,” Martinez said, referring to the three group games that he deemed “difficult.”

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the game, Martinez said he was aware of the challenge Croatia would pose, with them having finished runners-up in 2018 and third in 2022.

“Croatia is a team we know very well. They also know our strengths and our talent, so it will be a competitive match,” he said.

The Spaniard faced criticism after Cristiano Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes in his team’s last group game against Colombia, with Portuguese media raising concerns about a lack of game time for their other striker Goncalo Ramos.

Martinez brushed off those concerns on Wednesday, saying his players know what is expected of them and will be ready when called upon.

“What’s important is that all the players are ready to play for the team – whether in the starting lineup … or on the bench,” he said.

Much of the focus on the pitch will surround 41-year-old Ronaldo and his former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric, 40, as the two captains lock horns in what is expected to be a final World Cup game for one of them.

Martinez hailed both players as icons of the sport, who were “above public opinion.”

“People talk about age, but age is just a number. What matters is what they do and the example they set in the locker room,” he said.

The game will carry emotional significance for Portugal as they take to the field a day before the anniversary of the death of their forward Diogo Jota in a car crash.

Midfielder Vitinha said honouring Jota’s memory will be an added motivation for the team to seal a spot in the last 16. 

“We have all the motivation to win tomorrow … for our families, for Diogo Jota, for the whole country, for the whole of Portugal. This is why we’re going to do everything we can, really our best, to win against Croatia,” he said.

SEATTLE: Youri Tielemans struck a 125th-minute penalty as Belgium rallied from two goals down and defeated Senegal 3-2 after extra time in their World Cup last-32 clash in Seattle on Wednesday (Jul 1) to keep alive their title hopes that had looked dead and buried.

Senegal’s Lamine Camara slid in on Tielemans as the ball flashed across the face of goal and conceded the spot-kick after a video assistant referee (VAR) review, with the Belgian midfielder picking out the top corner to complete an extraordinary comeback.

Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr had given Senegal a deserved 2-0 lead and they looked to be cruising through to the next round, before Belgium netted twice in the final four minutes through Romelu Lukaku and a Tielemans header to force extra time.

Belgium now face the winner of Wednesday’s last-32 clash between co-hosts United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the next round in Seattle on Monday.

Lukaku looked set to take the penalty, but at the last minute, he handed the ball to captain Tielemans.

“We talked for a while. Romelu said, ‘take it’. And I was ready to take it,” Tielemans told Sporza.

“I am very proud to be captain of this team. We are all winners and try to do our best. Whether we will analyse this match tomorrow? I hope the day after tomorrow, first a day off!”

Tielemans believed it was the players off the bench who made the difference.

“We fell behind and then it’s up to us to try to show a reaction. We did,” he said. “It was the bench players who made the difference again, especially for that first goal. Everyone gives everything and sometimes it works better than other times.”

It was cruel on Senegal, who controlled much of the 90 minutes and also struck the woodwork twice, but could not see out the game.

When they broke the deadlock in the 25th minute, it was no surprise. Sadio Mane’s cross was headed goalwards by Sarr, but his effort came off the post again.

This time the loose ball fell kindly for Diarra, and he side-footed home from seven yards.

LUKAKU ON AT HALF-TIME

Belgium brought on Lukaku for the ineffective Charles De Ketelaere at half-time, but were soon 2-0 down.

A stunning long pass from Moussa Niakhate was brilliantly controlled on the chest of Sarr, who held off two defenders before thundering the ball into the net in the 51st minute.

Belgium struggled to create clear-cut chances until the final five minutes, and almost out of nowhere turned the game on its head.

First, Lukaku turned the ball in at the near post from Thomas Meunier’s low cross and Leandro Trossard’s ball into the box from deep was headed into the net by Tielemans.

Those two had been involved in a heated exchange earlier in the match but it was all smiles and hugs when the equaliser went in, before Tielemans was central again in the winner.

“I believe that our team deserved it (to win),” Senegal coach Pape Thiaw said. “Unfortunately, we are eliminated. I’m extremely sad, so are the players. They did deserve the win but it didn’t work out in our favour today.”

SANTA CLARA, California, July 1 : Christian Pulisic has returned to a much-changed United States starting 11 for the round-of-32 clash against Bosnia on Wednesday.

• Pulisic came off the bench in the 3-2 defeat by Turkey in the co-hosts’ last group match after suffering calf trouble earlier in the tournament.

• U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino has reverted to the exact 11 fielded in the 4-1 defeat of Paraguay in their opening group match.

• Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez made three changes, with U.S.-born winger Esmir Bajraktarevic benched.

• Winner to meet Belgium in last 16.

U.S. team: Matt Freese; Sergino Dest, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Alex Freeman, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman, Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun. 

Bosnia team: Nikola Vasilj, Tarik Muharemovic, Sead Kolasinac, Amar Dedic, Nikola Katic, Stjepan Radeljic, Armin Gigovic, Ivan Sunjic, Ermedin Demirovic, Edin Dzeko, Kerim Alajbegovic

VANCOUVER, July 1 : Switzerland will face a team that knows them well when they meet Algeria in their World Cup last 32 on Thursday, with the North Africans coached by Vladimir Petkovic – the man who guided the Swiss national team for seven years.

Petkovic joined Swiss club Chur 97 in 1987, going on to play for and manage a number of Swiss sides before taking the helm of the national team between 2014 and 2021, where he coached the likes of Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka and striker Breel Embolo. 

“I look different now than I did six years ago, there’s a big difference,” Embolo joked when asked what had changed since Petkovic left the Switzerland job.

“Both teams want to win, we want to write history. Petkovic, he really raised the bar with the Swiss team. And now we want to go even further. We have a new coach now. And it is always difficult as a player to compare coaches to each other.

“One thing that they have in common is that they both want to write history. If it’s going to be an advantage, well, at the end of the day, it’s still football.”

The World Cup clash will not be the first time that current Swiss coach Murat Yakin has faced Petkovic, with the two pitted against each other when coaching in the Swiss league. 

“Every time we met, it was very special. I was the coach of Thun and he was the coach of Young Boys, so it was the big brother against the small brother, it was always very positive,” Yakin said. 

“It was also a very tactical approach, and this is going to be the case also tomorrow. Of course, this was years ago and tomorrow is a very special match and a very special time we meet, at the end of the day, the players will decide who has the better tactical approach.”

Yakin pushed back against the notion that Switzerland would be favourites to go through to the last 16. 

“If we look at the knockout matches, we can’t really talk about favourites in this tournament. There are even matches, and this is going to be the case tomorrow as well,” he said.

“Algeria is a team that has individual qualities, they’re technically very refined, they’re very strong, and obviously, they’ll try to press hard, but we also try to stick to the way we play football. This is going to be an open match. From the beginning, we’ll try to set the tone, and win.”

Thursday’s game takes place at Vancouver’s BC Place stadium. 

INGLEWOOD, California, July 1 : Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said his talent-rich squad was ready to face Austria in their World Cup last-32 match on Thursday with Lamine Yamal, Victor Munoz and Yeremy Pino all available for selection.

The Spain boss told reporters to expect to see improvements in his team’s performance, after their sluggish World Cup start that has included a group-stage draw with Cape Verde and a narrow one-goal victory over Uruguay. Only their 4-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia showed glimpses of Spain at their dominant best.

“What I am seeing this week is that the team is beginning to recognise” things to fix in their results so far, said the coach.

Lamine Yamal’s game time has been managed carefully so far in the tournament, but De la Fuente said he was now available to play for as much of the match as required. 

The Barcelona forward has been eased through the tournament after an April hamstring tear, while Pino has recovered from a left shoulder sprain and Munoz is fit again after a muscle injury, though he has not competed for some time.

De la Fuente dismissed concerns about the enormous expectations weighing on his squad from Spanish supporters, despite the team’s early World Cup exits following their 2010 triumph.

“I love that it is demanded of us, because a lot is expected of us and what we have to do is respond to that expectation,” said De la Fuente.

At Wednesday morning’s training, Lamine Yamal was happily chatting and joking around on the pitch with his teammates in a lighthearted atmosphere. 

De la Fuente said he had already made his selection choices for the match, but would not provide any hint as to what they were. 

SEATTLE, June 30 : Belgium were 2-0 down to Senegal and once more crashing out of the World Cup early when the second-half hydration break presented a chance for coach Rudi Garcia to marshal his players and try to drag them back into the contest.

Garcia instead had to try and calm down his captain Youri Tielemans and winger Leandro Trossard, who were separated by teammates amid a furious row, which was until then the most fight Belgium had shown in a limp, lifeless display.

Yet little more than 20 minutes later the pair warmly embraced after combining to make it 2-2, Tielemans heading in Trossard’s superb cross to complete an unlikely comeback, having been second best to Senegal for the vast majority of the game.

Belgium’s record goalscorer Romelu Lukaku, one of the few remaining of the ‘golden generation’ which came third in 2018, first gave them hope with an instinctive finish in the 86th minute, his seventh World Cup goal.

Fittingly, though, it was Tielemans – the link between the new and old generations and an unused substitute in the semi-final defeat to France eight years ago – who forced extra time before coolly converting a penalty to win it at the very end.

Their next opponents, either the United States or Bosnia and Herzegovina, will see plenty of weaknesses to exploit. But the nature of Belgium’s win, plus their talent and newly found fight, makes them an ominous prospect.

BELGIUM BANISH RECENT DISAPPOINTMENTS

Before Wednesday, Belgium had only won a single major tournament knockout game since the 2018 World Cup, beating Portugal in the last 16 of the COVID-delayed Euro 2020.

But, after their elimination in the group stage four years ago and defeat by France at Euro 2024, memories of their recent zenith had long since faded, along with the legs of the talismanic Kevin De Bruyne and Lukaku.

Their performance against Senegal for much of the contest hardly suggests a return to their 2018 vintage, though they can point to how that run to the semi-finals began by overturning a 2-0 deficit to similarly triumph at the death against Japan.

Garcia, who conceded that Senegal had deserved to win, said he saw Tielemans and Trossard’s argument in the second half as a good sign for his side’s chances.

“Lukaku tried to calm both of them down, but I like that,” he told reporters. “It means that we have a lively team … Leandro, Youri, they are two major players on the Belgian side.

“They so want to win. I don’t even know why they were arguing, but I like that – I like to see players who really want to turn the situation around when things are not (going) well.”