Given the dominance of the Australian teams, New Zealand has seen very little finals action over the first seven years of the competition. All the grand finals have been contested across the Tasman.
That has left stakeholders here feeling a little shortchanged given the bulk of league's commercial revenue, including all the broadcast revenue, comes out of New Zealand only for all the league's showpiece games being staged across the Tasman.
But Crook said having three teams from each country go through to the play-offs will ensure interest is maintained in all teams for longer.
"If we want these guys to turn professional we need to keep pushing the boundaries of what we can do and keep generating more income for the teams and the league," said Crook.
"And that goes for not just New Zealand teams, but Australian teams as well."
While those at ANZ Championship HQ might look at it solely from a money point of view, the players and coaches were talking about finals netball now being within every team's reach this year.
Former England coach Sue Hawkins, who will take the reins of the Mainland Tactix this season, said the new format has given the league a different dynamic this year.
"It's a great opportunity for the New Zealand franchises to be in the top three, and once you're in the top three you'll reassess from there. But it'll be interesting to see how the Australian franchises feel about it as the season goes on and things play out," said Hawkins.
Crook acknowledged the potential for a backlash among Australian fans should Kiwi teams with a negative win-loss record go further in the competition than an Australian side with a stronger record.
"It's something we considered from the very start.
"There's going to be discrepancies here and there, but if the teams aren't good enough, then they're not going to go on and win the ANZ Championship grand final - it's as simple as that," said Crook.
Conference system
• This year the league will be divided into a New Zealand and Australian conference, the top three in each country moving to a restructured post-season contest.
• The top qualifiers from each country will automatically advance to the conference finals, the second- and third-ranked teams in each country will play-off for the remaining spot.
• The winner of each conference final will host the loser of the opposite conference final, ensuring Australia and New Zealand will each host a semifinal.
• The winners of the semifinals will go on to contest the grand final.
