Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich says her team is focused on blocking out the “outside noise” as the controversy around Netball Australia’s sponsorship deal with Hancock Prospecting drags on.
Australia kept their hopes of reclaiming the Constellation Cup alive with a dominant 62-47 win over New Zealand in game three in Melbourne on Wednesday night.
It was a much needed win that not only gives the Diamonds a major boost heading into Sunday’s series decider, but relieves pressure from the sponsorship storm engulfing netball.
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The action on the court has been overshadowed by Netball Australia’s new $15 million sponsorship deal with Hancock Prospecting, a company owned by Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart.
The issue came to a head because Indigenous player Donnell Wallam, who is line to make her Diamonds debut in the upcoming series against England, was said to be uncomfortable wearing a uniform with the Hancock Prospecting logo, because of comments made by Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock in the 1980s.
The Diamonds are yet to wear a uniform with the Hancock logo on it and there was no mention of the new sponsor on their dresses during Wednesday’s game.
Netball Australia has been criticised for a lack of consultation with players about the deal with Hancock and there is frustration Wallam has been unfairly burdened by the situation.
Speaking after the game three victory, Marinkovich and midcourter Kate Moloney said there were ongoing discussions about the uniform situation and they were confident a resolution would be reached soon.
Marinkovich said she was pleased with her team’s ability to put ongoing commentary about the saga to one side and focus on the game.
“There’s outside noise,” she told reporters in the post-game press conference in front of a media wall featuring the Hancock Prospecting logo along with other sponsors.
“Nobody can estimate or understand the connection that is within our high performance group. We are very proud to represent Netball Australia. We are very proud to be in the uniform.
“And we’re very good at having collaborative conversations to shape the direction we want to continue to take the sport and how we play the game.
“Whilst everyone else has got a lot of noise outside, the unity that’s within — you can’t go out there and play the way that we did tonight (without unity).
“It wasn’t about proving anything to anyone else, it was about our own improvement. You spend a thousand days out of the country (without a home game), you’ve had to learn to rely on each other and I think that has just given us a greater strength.”
Referencing the furore over the sponsorship, the Diamonds coach also acknowledged it was important for the team to ignore “toxic” commentary social media.
“Whilst I guess in some parts there’s a toxic nature on social media, we take it as exactly that — it’s social media,” Marinkovich said.
“Those people that are really passionate about us and the sport and us about the community, that’s where we draw our attention and we draw our strength from.
“I think everyone’s getting used to blocking outside noise and focus on what matters at what times.”
Moloney said while discussions about finding a resolution were going, it was important the Diamonds prioritised their performance on the court against the Silver Ferns.
“We came together and performance was our focus this week,” Moloney said.
“We’ve shown that we’ve got some great strength off the court. We wanted to show how strong we were on the court and I think the girls did a really good job of putting performance at the forefront of our minds.
“There is a lot of outside noise but as a playing group, as a Diamonds collective with our support staff, we’ve been really strong together inside. We’ll continue to do that and get to a resolution. Hopefully that will be really soon.
“But at the moment we want to win the Constellation Cup and we’re looking at recovering and getting ready for the Gold Coast.”
Diamonds captain Liz Watson fronted the media this week and defended Netball Australia’s deal with Hancock Prospecting.
The star wing attack had an absolute blinder in game three, dominating the midcourt battle alongside Moloney and finishing with an absurd number of circle feeds and goal assists.
Moloney hinted the controversy had taken a toll on Watson and praised her skipper for producing a performance for the ages given the circumstances.
“Lizzy’s a special player,” she said.
“She leads by example in everything she does. She’s had a big week this week and what I’m so proud of is she comes out and she takes it on and she performs. “We all just want to be out there backing her. Really proud of what she did tonight because it has been a really big week.”
New Zealand coach Noeline Taurua credited the Diamonds for compartmentalising their off-court issues and producing a blinder against their arch rivals.
“We can only commend them with all the stuff that is happening behind the scenes, and their ability to come back and put a really good performance out there,” Taurua said.
“They were a force and we just weren’t good enough on the day. And with all the stuff that’s happening around them, good on them.”
The Silver Ferns are without gun wing attack Peta Toeava for the Australian leg of the series and the Diamonds ran riot in her absence.
“That’s what we expect from Liz,” Taurua said.
“In the first two matches she didn’t do it, she’s definitely the kingpin and the playmaker. When you’ve got her and Steph (Wood) on the line, both of them make a really strong combination.”
