Former Silver Ferns defender Erena Mikaere says the collapse of New Zealand’s planned privatised domestic netball league has been “devastating“, leaving elite players without jobs or a clear pathway for the next generation as Netball NZ scrambles to confirm a 2027 competition, 1News reported.
The 38-year-old, who plays for Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic and is twice-capped for New Zealand, told TVNZ Breakfast this week that the fallout from Netball NZ withdrawing from negotiations with investors Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams just eight weeks after signing a term sheet has taken a slow, grinding toll on her life and her 17-year-old daughter’s dreams.
Netball Stars Face Mental Toll and Uncertain Future
- Player retention risk is acute: with no guaranteed professional competition in 2027, veteran stars like Mikaere and Martina Salmon face an uncertain future that is taking a mental toll on them.
- World Cup futures for the Silver Ferns carry added uncertainty — Salmon says an amateur domestic league would disrupt the preparation needed for the Sydney 2027 World Cup.
- Franchise stability is in play: three of the six ANZ Premiership teams are owned by Netball NZ itself, so any collapse of the 2027 concept hits the governing body’s own balance sheet and the depth charts of Mainland Tactix, Magic, and Northern Stars.
Eight Weeks From Term Sheet to Collapse: Inside the Mowbray-Williams Meltdown
The speed of the unravelling has blindsided players who were publicly optimistic. Mikaere said she had been “happily telling people that no, it looks positive for a solution” before news broke that the privatised league was scrapped. Netball NZ CEO Jenna Wootten told the media the arrangement fell over because of the absence of “key principles and objectives”, and she later apologised for a leaked email that revealed the collapse to players and media — a move she called “regrettable”.
Ali Williams told RNZ he has no plans to launch a rebel domestic competition, ruling out a lifeline for players. That leaves the six franchises that have contested the ANZ Premiership since 2017 — three of them owned by Netball NZ — in limbo while the governing body works on an alternative concept for 2027.
The Financial Model That Didn’t Stack Up for Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic
Here is what the player-facing narrative missed: the privatised model was already unworkable for at least one existing franchise. RNZ reported that Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic liaison manager Gary Dawson said the financial model proposed by Mowbray and Williams “just didn’t stack up” and the club “wouldn’t have been able to run a team with the sort of losses that were being envisaged”. Dawson added that communication with the investors had dropped off in recent weeks and that while he had an inkling things were going poorly, the final withdrawal still came as a surprise. Magic executive Ann Hay backed Netball NZ’s decision, saying the body “couldn’t hand over netball at this level” to the private backers and that “it is vitally important that they remain the guardians of the game”.
That front-office reality sits uneasily beside the locker-room reality. Netball NZ underwrote most competition costs this year after broadcast rights money dried up, which helps explain why the governing body balked at a model that shifted more financial risk onto franchises.
World Cup Prep Under Threat as Salmon and Mason Warn of a “Shambles”
The NZ Herald reported that current Silver Ferns Parris Mason and Martina Salmon have joined the chorus of concern. Mason said: “The way that they’ve let it drag on for so long has put so much pressure on player welfare. I would really like for them to sort out a solution. At the moment we keep getting hit with constant uncertainty and constant failure.” She added that young kids want to see the Ferns play “and at this rate it’s a shambles”.
Salmon, a member of the Commonwealth Games gold-medal squad, told the Herald: “This is our lives, our jobs and our careers on the line, and not knowing what’s going to happen next year or in the future is taking a mental toll on us players.” She questioned whether an amateur league would even be viable given she holds another job, and whether it would provide the preparation needed for a World Cup year — asking whether selectors would take players who lack proper competition reps.
“It’s been quite devastating, actually… The biggest devastation to me is we don’t know what the future of our netball looks like, and I obviously have a 17-year-old daughter, and that has been breaking my heart.” — Erena Mikaere, former Silver Fern, to 1News
Trust in Tatters: Mikaere and Wilson Demand a Seat at the Table
Mikaere conceded the relationship between players and Netball NZ needs urgent repair. “I think it definitely needs to be rebuilt in some sort of way,” she said, arguing that being part of the conversation would be the first step, and that “not being spoken to is the first part of building that trust”. Former Silver Fern Maia Wilson echoed the sentiment to 1News, saying the “track record of what’s gone on prior” with Netball NZ had done considerable damage to player trust.
Mikaere, who has played professionally for almost 16 years, said she is not ready to end her career and wants to “leave the dress in a better place than I found it” — a standard that, she fears, may take more than 10 years to meet if the current trajectory continues.
| Stakeholder | Position on the collapsed privatised league | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Jenna Wootten, Netball NZ CEO | Deal failed over absent “key principles and objectives”; alternative 2027 plan in “advanced plans”; no personal guarantee of a 2027 pro league | 1News / NZ Herald |
| Erena Mikaere, ex-Silver Fern, Magic | Collapse “blindsided” her; trust must be rebuilt by including players in talks; pathway for her daughter destroyed | 1News |
| Parris Mason & Martina Salmon, Silver Ferns | Uncertainty is a “shambles” pressuring welfare; amateur league would disrupt World Cup preparation | NZ Herald |
| Gary Dawson & Ann Hay, Magic | Private financial model “didn’t stack up”; backed NNZ decision to remain “guardians of the game” | RNZ |
The macro picture is stark: with the rankings update on December 1 set to lift New Zealand level with Australia and a World Cup in Sydney next year, the absence of a confirmed domestic competition threatens the very preparation pipeline that produced this year’s silverware. Netball NZ says it is working closely with the six franchises on a 2027 concept, but players say the damage to trust is already done — and grassroots, as Mikaere notes, is thriving while the elite tier waits.
