Netball: Netball NZ wrestles with salary cap idea

Irene van Dyk's agent demanded a $1.45 million package. Sandra Mu / Getty Images

A salary cap and a points system are two ideas Netball New Zealand will investigate to address the issue of player payments in the new franchise competition.

Netball NZ's review of the National Bank Cup found that franchises were finding it difficult to remain financially viable and that player payments were an important factor in that.

Two possible solutions were discussed in the review.

The first was a salary cap which would set a limit on player payments.

The second was a points system which allocated points to levels of players and then set a limit that teams had to adhere to.

Netball NZ chairman Don Mackinnon said the investigation into what competition Netball NZ would go with in 2008 - an enhanced version of the competition, playoffs between the top New Zealand and Australian sides, or a transtasman competition - would have a bearing on whether any intervention would take place and what it would be.

"There is no point coming up with a wonderful competition if player payments are going to escalate out of control," Mackinnon said.

"We have committed to working with our franchises and players on ideas that might work."

At the moment the franchises deal directly with the players. There are no guidelines on how much players should be paid, whether they are Silver Ferns, New Zealand under-21 or others.

As a result there is huge disparity in the market, agents are being hired to negotiate deals and the players are going where they can to get the best money.

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic chief executive Sheryl Dawson said that unless things changed some franchises would fail.

"Currently we have a structure that was fine for an amateur sport but now we are semi-professional I think some big thinking needs to go on ... not only about player payments but the whole financial implications of running the competition."

Player payments were in the spotlight this year when a sponsor of the Capital Shakers offered Irene van Dyk $170,000 to play two seasons. Van Dyk's manager rejected the offer and demanded a $1.45 million package.

Putting aside the $1.45 million, which was unrealistic, the $170,000 for two seasons was significant for netball.

It's estimated about 15 players in the National Bank Cup are on more than $20,000, and one or two may be above $50,000.

Former Southern Sting director Lee Piper said at the time of the Van Dyk saga that if the franchises were paying more then they were entitled to demand more.

"I think we are going to start heading down a track where franchises are going to start to say to Silver Fern players, 'Look, I'm sorry we are not going to let you go to that Silver Ferns training camp, we need you for our camp' and the players are going to have to accept it.

"Those are the real dangers we face going into this area," he said.

He said a solution could be for Netball NZ to take control of the players like the New Zealand Rugby Union did.

"The union contracts the leading players in the Super 14, All Blacks and NPC.

In comparison is the set-up in English rugby where the clubs contract the players, which means the England union is at the mercy of the clubs to release players for internationals.

Mackinnon said Netball NZ could not afford to contract the players at the moment.

"You are talking about having to find the funds to contract 70 to 100 players ... I am not saying in the longer term that isn't where the sport might end up but we don't have the ability to do that now."