By RICHARD BOOCK
Netball New Zealand will this month discuss the vexed question of reducing the number of teams in the national league.
Suggestions the present Coca-Cola Cup format of nine teams and one round could be improved by changing to an eight-team, two-round competition are to be debated among all stakeholders at the NNZ's annual review.
Auckland Diamonds coach Tania Karauria recently received widespread support for her proposal to reduce the number of Auckland teams from three to two, while the majority of coaches believe two rounds would better harness the increasing popularity of the league.
NNZ chief executive Shelley McMeeken said yesterday that her organisation planned to consult all relevant parties in the lead-up to the review, and confirmed the issue of reducing the number of Coca-Cola Cup teams would rate high on the agenda.
"My personal feeling is that we need to keep the competition tight," she said. "As far as the future direction is concerned, I think an eight-team league has always been seen as the ideal number, and that's something we'll certainly explore during the debrief."
If a push is made to reduce the number of sides, the most vulnerable franchise appears to be the Papatoetoe-based Cometz, one of three teams from the greater Auckland region, and the wooden-spooners of this season's Coca-Cola Cup.
While other league teams have also struggled during the three years of the league, NNZ seems unlikely to rob the competition of its geographical representation by dropping a side from outside the Auckland province.
McMeeken said there could also be a strong case mounted for retaining the status quo.
"This season has seen our best Coca-Cola Cup competition yet and it's certainly not cut and dried that there will be any changes to the format.
"The competition has been more closely contested than in previous years, there's been more coverage, a higher profile, and it's developed a bigger following than ever before.
"I've heard a lot of talk about how such a successful thing should be expanded - but maybe it was successful because it was short and sharp. These are the sorts of things we want to work through . . . "
Meanwhile, McMeeken said the so-called tri-series in November between hosts South Africa, the Silver Ferns and Australia was a coincidental "one-off" and was not the start of an annual competition between the Southern Hemisphere rivals.
New Zealand's tour of the republic had been planned for a couple of years, while Australia had recently made a late decision to tour at the same time, creating an opportunity for the three teams to lock horns.
Netball: Cometz could fall in revamp
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