It was hard to escape the sense on Sunday night that the Diamonds’ principled stand in support of a teammate had blown up in their faces.
Captain Liz Watson and Stacey Marinkovich spoke about “learnings” and “lessons” from the saga, which has plunged Australia’s largest female participation sport back into financial uncertainty after Hancock Prospecting pulled its $15 million sponsorship deal suddenly on Saturday.
Wallam put on a brave face to support her teammates at the Constellation Cup decider at the Gold Coast on Sunday. Credit:AAP
Watson said after the match she had no regrets but her coach conceded the matter “got a little bigger than what it needed to be”.
The Diamonds had just done what the Diamonds do: bossed the final two quarters of a game to take back the Constellation Cup from New Zealand’s Silver Ferns. It was ferocious netball executed in Australia’s trademark style: physical, clinical, authoritative.
There is no mystery to their championship tally this season: Quad Series, Commonwealth Games, Constellation Cup. On the court, these women are mistresses of their domain.
Off the court, though, the Diamonds found themselves out of their depth in their skirmish with mining billionaire Gina Rinehart when they asked not to wear the Hancock Prospecting logo against England in support of rookie teammate Donnell Wallam.
Netball Australia chief Kelly Ryan is under pressure to find new funding sources after Hancock Prospecting’s sudden withdrawal.Credit:Getty
Wallam, an Indigenous player, had expressed the view that she did not wish to wear the Hancock logo because of the late Lang Hancock’s racist comments suggesting Indigenous Australians who could not assimilate should be sterilised to breed themselves out. The television interview is easy to find online.
They were living their values, not to mention their stated commitment to break down the barriers that have led to severe Indigenous under-representation in the sport. Wallam was only the second Indigenous player in Super Netball. She will be just the third Indigenous Diamond when she makes her debut in the coming days. Listening to her concerns and acting upon them was this team’s first test on that front. They passed with honours.
But it was naive of the group to underestimate the ripple effect of that gesture, to assume it would stay a private team matter and also to assume Australia’s richest person would accept their request.
Wallam, meanwhile, sat courtside with her teammates on Sunday night, a picture of dignity under pressure. After the game she signed autographs.
The 28-year-old was ridiculed in some sectors and lumped in with the “GoWokeGoBroke” hashtag on social media, becoming the latest face of a generation of athletes who are described by some as selfish, entitled and out of line for questioning the commercial partners their sports do business with.
It was grossly unfair. Wallam had only raised in private that she had an issue with wearing the Hancock logo.
Victors on the court: Diamonds captain Liz Watson holds the Constellation Cup after beating New Zealand on Sunday night.Credit:Getty
The interview was broadcast 38 years ago but remains a blot on the Hancock Prospecting name. Rinehart has paid more than $300 million in mining royalties into the Indigenous communities in which her companies operate. They fund employment, health, education, arts and social welfare programs targeted at Indigenous Australians. The fact remains, however, that Rinehart has never, according to the archives available to the Herald, addressed her father’s comments.
Nevertheless, Wallam walked back her position over the course of last week as the implications of the Diamonds collective action dawned on her. This was after Hancock Prospecting representatives made it clear in a meeting with the team that they would not entertain an individual exemption.
By Friday night it was thought the issue had been resolved because the Diamonds had backed down. The partnership was to be relaunched the next day.
Then, the bombshell from Rinehart. The deal was off, and so was Roy Hill’s $2 million, four-year deal with Netball WA, a state body that had nothing to do with the saga (Wallam plays in Queensland). There were three pages and two separate statements on why, including valid questions raised about the power struggle between Netball Australia and its players’ union. You sense a reckoning coming on that front.
Mostly it was a defence of Hancock Prospecting, highlighting the miner’s economic contribution to Western Australia and the Indigenous communities in which it operates its Pilbara mines. There was also a warning to Australian athletes about the cost of “virtue signalling and self-publicity”, suggesting they believed Wallam’s and her teammates’ stand was a cheap stunt.
It was no stunt and Rinehart made sure there was nothing cheap about the exercise. Rowers, swimmers, Olympic athletes – all funded by Rinehart – are on notice.
Netball now picks up the pieces. The Diamonds will continue to shine on court, with more depth to their brilliance now after a painful lesson in realpolitik.
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