‘Lowest point’: Diamonds legend demand heads roll at Netball Australia after lengthy feud

Australian netball legend Joyce Brown has demanded the top brass at Netball Australia be sacked and held accountable for throwing the sporting body into turmoil. The former Australian captain and three-time World Champion coach put her name to a letter attached to a petition to the spotting body’s board shared on Friday afternoon. It called for an “immediate change in Netball Australia’s leadership to heal and grow netball” and comes in the wake of a string of controversies, including a “needlessly year-long dispute” with Super Netball players over pay and a loss of $18m in federal government funding which had destroyed the sport’s reputation. “The current leadership has taken our sport to its lowest point. It has fractured the fabric of netball and irreparably damaged relationships,” the letter said. “In the lead up to Australian Netball’s centenary in 2027, the sport deserves better.” Ms Joyce, a Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductee, also listed not consulting stakeholders on the sale of the location of the 2022 SSN grand final and the withdrawal of one of Australia’s most prestigious sporting clubs, Collingwood, from the games as other failures from the body. Former Collingwood Magpies and England netball captain Geva Mentor shared the petition within minutes of it being posted online. “Precisely that Joyce,” she said on Instagram with a praise hands emoji. Former Diamonds captain Liz Ellis took to Instagram to share the petition, and confirmed it had been penned by Ms Joyce, who was unavailable for comment on Friday. “Can confirm this is from Joyce Brown. If you want to support her, you can follow the link,” she wrote. A spokeswoman for Netball Australia said chief executive Kelly Ryan was focused on landing the pay deal between players and the sporting body. “Pay talks are always challenging and emotional, but we are confident the good faith shown by the players and Netball Australia will lead to a win-win outcome,” she said. An agreement between the sport’s governing body and players was reached last week after an ugly dispute which saw netballers go unpaid for nine weeks. It’s understood an announcement could be made as early as next week. Australian Netball Players Association President and Diamonds defender Jo Weston broke down in tears at an emotionally charged press conference where the union revealed players had been forced to sleep in their cars. The breakthrough came just a day after the federal government stripped the already cash-strapped organisation of almost $18m in funding because it was unconvinced it would spend it wisely. Ms Joyce is just the latest Diamonds captain to throw her weight behind change at the sporting organisation. Earlier this week, Ms Ellis questioned whether the board had appropriately held Ms Ryan to account. “There’s a lot of damaged relationships within the sport and externally as well,” she told ABC RN. “I think that something that you know I questioned … whether Netball Australia’s leadership is up to the task of taking the sport where it deserves to get to. “I’m just not sure yet whether others in the system are asking the same question. “The players have been asking it for a while but they can’t ask those questions by themselves.”