‘Deep scars’: Netball’s highest-profile critic has been appointed to its board
By Carla Jaeger
Netball great Liz Ellis, an outspoken critic of Netball Australia for its handling of a series of off-court dramas, has been appointed to its board.
The former national team captain and Australia’s most capped netballer told this masthead on Monday that she hoped to revive the Super Netball league during her tenure on the Netball Australia board, but acknowledged that “deep scars” remain from the sport’s near-two-year saga.
Liz Ellis has voiced her concerns over the relationship between players and the governing body.Credit: Getty Images
Ellis was highly critical of the governing body last year amid a series of off-court dramas that plagued the sport, including a pay war with players and the loss of millions of dollars in federal government funding.
In November, she appeared on The Project, describing the relationship between Netball Australia and its players as “so poisoned” that she wondered whether it could be repaired. That same month, Ellis issued a lengthy statement expressing her anger towards a letter Netball Australia sent Diamonds players warning they could face legal action if they boycotted the Australian Netball Awards.
“As a former Diamonds captain, I cannot believe that the governing body of the sport I love would treat its Diamonds ambassadors for netball with such callous regard,” Ellis wrote at the time.
Speaking about her appointment on Monday to this masthead, Ellis said:
“This is not the end point where we go ‘OK, everything’s fixed let’s get Liz on the board, let’s get a [new] CEO’ … there are deep scars from the last couple of years and I think there’s a lot of work to be done.
“I don’t want people to think we’ve got the messiah, that all our problems are solved – I’m just one of now a team of nine. I have skills that are different from all the other board members, and can hopefully complement them.”
Her appointment to the board, announced on Monday, had been rumoured among netball insiders since former chief executive Kelly Ryan resigned in December. Stacey West, a former player and long-time Netball Australia administrator, was appointed as interim CEO.
Outgoing chair Wendy Archer on Monday pointed to Ellis’ success on the netball court and leadership skills.
“Like all members of the board, Liz is passionate about netball, both on court and off, and brings significant leadership skills as well as a breadth of knowledge gained from her post-career roles in broadcast and business,” Archer said.
Following Ryan’s resignation, several board members also stood down from their positions, paving the way for Ellis’ appointment. Marina Go – who appointed Ryan and chaired the board during the Hancock Prospecting saga, when the company withdrew $15 million in sponsorship – secretly stood down days after Ryan’s resignation.
Netball Australia chair Archer and deputy chair John O’Sullivan also announced their resignations this year. Archer will remain on the board and see out the remainder of her tenure until 2025.
Asked whether she would be interested in chairing the board, Ellis did not dismiss the idea but said she would need to wait and “see how that plays out”.
“I haven’t even had a board meeting,” she added.
The three-time world netball champion, who practised as a solicitor in her early career, has also sat on the board of the Australian Sports Commission, the NSW Institute of Sport, Sydney Olympic Park Authority and Players Voice.
“When you look at that board, there are a wide variety of strengths and experiences. I’ve got a really deep knowledge of the vertical of the sport. I’ve been in almost every [role] – I’ve been a high-performance player, I currently sit at grassroots as a coach, my daughter’s a rep player so I see that first step on the rung of the pathways,” she said.
Ellis said her focus would be to reinvigorate the Super Netball competition, which is currently bleeding millions of dollars and being propped up by netball’s grassroots.
The 53-page State of the Game review authored by Ellis in 2020 urged that the Super Netball competition must be the commercial jewel in Netball Australia’s crown, and noted its current structure was “not optimised for commercial growth”.
“The thing that I learnt during the State of the Game review – and you sort of instinctively know this – the product is fantastic. But I think we can have a good look at it and say is this a structure optimal for commercial return?”
She added that capital injection into the league would be a focus. In 2022, Ellis backed a $6.5 million bid from private equity firm Tier 1 to buy the league outright. That deal was ultimately rejected.
Asked whether she would be supportive of New Zealand teams joining the league, Ellis said that any decisions made needed to be part of a larger strategy.
“I don’t think you can look at New Zealand teams coming into the league without understanding why you’re doing it, and what you’re getting from it, and how it’s going to work.”
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