National anthem before Silver Ferns v Uganda, Netball Nations Cup match in Leeds, England on 28 January 2024. Photo: www.photosport.nz
Netball New Zealand is in discussions with Netball Fiji about holding a series in the island nation in January and they hope Australia will be involved too.
The Nations Cup between England, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa usually takes place in England every January but it's not going ahead this time.
The England Roses have just come off a tour of Australia and New Zealand and will play Jamaica next month in a new regular fixture in the international calendar.
It's the start of a new series that will be held across England and Jamaica, with two home matches to be played in England and two away matches played in Jamaica for the next four years.
Netball New Zealand chief executive Jennie Wyllie said getting international exposure was important for the Silver Ferns so they wanted to fill the January void.
"The final details are yet to be confirmed with Netball Fiji. And part of what's been really important for us too is to be able to have a Pacific series and to ensure that we get that visibility and opportunity to play against Pacific nations as well. I think it's really important to be able to demonstrate a presence over there," Wyllie said.
"We're in really advanced discussions around how do we pull something like that together for January and be able to use it as an opportunity to give some of our young up-and-coming talent some experience alongside the more seasoned players as we head into the next pinnacle event cycle."
Given Fiji are currently ranked 14th in the world, the series is not going to extend the Silver Ferns but Netball New Zealand would like to see the world champions there too.
"We would like to be able to have Australia involved, I think that's the discussion at this point but all of those details are to be confirmed."
The Silver Ferns and Australia start their annual four test Constellation Cup series this Sunday in Wellington.
The recent 2-1 series loss to England was another reminder of how much of a threat the Roses have become.
Jamaica beat the Silver Ferns to win bronze at last year's World Cup and are equally as dangerous but opportunities to play the Sunshine Girls are few and far between.
The last series between the sides in 2022 turned into a farce when passport and visa issues meant the series was cut from three to two tests.
When Jamaica finally did touch down in New Zealand just seven of their 12-player squad made it.
Lost tickets sales, the changing of venues, and travel assistance cost Netball New Zealand a significant amount of money.
Silver Ferns v Jamaica, Taini Jamison Trophy netball series. Pullman Arena, Auckland, in 2022. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
So would it be cheaper for the Silver Ferns to go to Jamaica?
"In terms of dollars they are probably much of a muchness. When they come to New Zealand we have to support them because Jamaican Netball does not get much funding.
"And unfortunately what we experienced last time that we had them here, while we love playing them when they've got a full compliment of players, it's really challenging to ensure that the right talent turns up and that they are able to satisfy their visa requirements etc.
"Alternatively for us to travel to Jamaica there's a whole lot of logistics that also need to be considered, such as venue size, commercial, and broadcast.
"But what we do know is there is a lot of Jamaican players playing in England and Australia and having the ability to perhaps look at different ways of getting exposure to that style of play is probably top of mind for us."
Next year's ANZ Premiership is being cut from three rounds to two but Netball New Zealand said a shorter season opened up a space in the calendar to explore new content, which could include an international component.
Earlier this year Netball New Zealand and Sky TV agreed to a one-year extension to their existing broadcast partnership, but what's happening to the domestic competition from 2026 is an unknown.
"Not only are we discussing what 2026 and beyond will look like, which we've yet to land on, but we're also looking at these new windows and what those opportunities might be and they are currently under discussion as well."
World Netball is waiting to hear if netball will be included in the truncated Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2026.
Wyllie felt it was a no-brainer for netball to be included.
"You have every single top country that participates in netball in that Commonwealth Games space so it truly is one of the most quintessential Commonwealth Games-centric sports.
"It is also the sport that sells the most tickets so the public are highly engaged with it and it's fantastic for the Commonwealth Games Federation. In Birmingham in 2022 it was the highest grossing revenue event across the Commonwealth Games and it was a sell-out every day."
