Watch the moment Aussie netball’s biggest stars backed their mates who boycotted awards night they were FORCED to attend amid pay war after Gina Rinehart pulled her sponsorship
- Australian netball stars supported their friends on Saturday
- Netballers boycott the awards ceremony
- Diamonds players called the line on stage
Netball stars defended their absent friends on Saturday evening during the Netball Australia Awards with a remarkable act.
The sport’s pay dispute went nuclear this weekend, with national team players legally forced to attend the do.
No players from the Super Netball competition were present at the awards ceremony. Their representatives said they have not been paid for almost two months as the battle over a new pay deal continues.
“Tonight is the Netball Australia Awards and the Diamonds are attending because they are required by law to attend,” the Australian Netball Players’ Association (ANPA) said in a statement.
‘Without an agreement on our Collective Player Agreement, SSN players have been unpaid for almost 8 weeks.
The Australian netball stars looked forward to seeing their friends at the Netball Awards
The Diamonds stars reported the pay row after being forced to attend the ceremony
‘We continue with #FightFor Fair.
“What we have asked for is affordable and sustainable for the game and promotes a true partnership to grow the game.”
The code is under financial pressure after Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, scrapped a $15 million sponsorship deal after Indigenous star Donnell Wallam refused to wear the logo of one of her companies, Hancock Prospecting, on her jersey.
That was reportedly due to comments made by Rinehart’s late father Lang Hancock in 1984, when he suggested that indigenous Australians should be sterilized to ‘incubate themselves’.
Super Netball pay deals expired on September 30, with the players’ futures left in limbo as they were all technically out of contract until the matter was resolved.
In October, ANPA blasted the governing body for rejecting the players’ “modest requests” and offering an “unfair three-year deal” that “rejected a genuine partnership with the players.”
The code has struggled financially since Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart (pictured center with swimming legends Kieren Perkins, left, and Dawn Fraser, right) withdrew $15 million in sponsorship money in October 2022.
And during Saturday night’s ceremony, the national team players made sure their mates and their campaign were not left aside.
“Here’s a video sent to me of that Q&A at the Australian Netball Awards, with the Diamonds World Cup winners on stage,” ABC journalist Brittany Carter tweeted.
‘Each player makes a note of missing Super Netball athletes before answering a World Cup-related question.’