The Silver Ferns who will benefit from Netball NZ’s U-turn - and what they could earn offshore

Wednesday, 23 July 2025

Grace Nweke warms up before a Silver Ferns' test against England last year at Auckland's Trusts Arena.

Leading Silver Ferns could earn up to $60,000 more by taking their talents to Australia’s Super Netball.

Australian domestic teams will be gunning for New Zealand’s finest netballers after Netball New Zealand’s eligibility criteria U-turn on Monday.

NNZ’s revised regulations will now allow athletes playing abroad the opportunity to be considered for Silver Ferns selection through a formal exemption process.

No-one would have been happier than the country’s best netballer, Grace Nweke, who has been lighting up Super Netball in her first season with the NSW Swifts. Under the previous rules, Nweke would have been ineligible to wear the black dress by playing in Australia.

While an exodus of Kiwi netballers to Super Netball is not expected, Australian club teams will target top-tier Silver Ferns.

Silver Ferns star Grace Nweke could be joined by some of the country’s other top names in Super Netball next season.

Karin Burger, Maddy Gordon, Kelly Jackson, Kate Heffernan, Amelia Walmsley, and outgoing captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio will be in the sights of Super Netball teams, joining Swifts’ star Nweke.

Goal attack Ekenasio, a 79-test veteran, announced on Tuesday she will be making herself unavailable for the 2025 international netball season. Ekenasio who insisted she was not retiring, wanted to prioritise her family and take a break from the game.

Even losing a handful of Silver Ferns would have an impact on New Zealand’s ANZ Premiership, eroding the standard and taking away some of the sport’s most recognisable faces in this country.

Australia’s Super Netball, the world’s pre-eminent club netball competition, will have strong appeal.

Pulse standouts Maddy Gordon and Amelia Walmsley will both be appealing for Australian Super Netball sides.

Kiwi players could earn as much as $60,000 more by competing across the Tasman, one well placed source told The Post.

The top retainer for an ANZ Premiership contract is $56,000 (which can be bumped up with non-playing agreements). The minimum retainer was $26,000. Silver Ferns players also earn national contracts and match payments on top of their domestic deals.

Netball Australia’s historic three-year Collective Player Agreement (CPA), signed in December 2023, saw the average potential Super Netball salary rise to $89,221 ($NZ 97,526). Minimum salaries rose to $46,600 ($NZ 50,936).

Magic captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio has not shut the door on playing in Australia’s Super Netball next season.

Next year’s Super Netball salary cap for a club of 10 players was reported to be $890,000 ($NZ973,000).

“I’ve always been an advocate for it because in reality this is our job,” Ekenasio told The Post about the possibility of leading Silver Ferns in Super Netball.

“For lots of us we could be making more money over there and gaining so much more valuable experience… I’m excited for the girls who will be able to go and play. I wish it could have been me. I wish it could have been a few years earlier.”

Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio takes in the ball against England in Auckland last year.

Kiwi netballers will need to be granted exemptions from NNZ to play in Super Netball, should they want to still be eligible for the Silver Ferns.

Prospective players have to make an application to be exempt and then speak with Silver Ferns head coach Dame Noeline Taurua and head of high performance Stephen Hotter. From there, the application will go through the New Zealand Netball Players’ Association (NZNPA) before being submitted to NNZ’s board for a final decision.

There is no limit on how many players can be granted exemptions in any one year, nor any set number of Silver Fern test caps to be met.

Bundaberg-born Ekenasio, who started out with the Queensland Firebirds before moving to New Zealand in 2014 to join the Central Pulse, had not ruled out the possibility of Super Netball next year.

Ekenasio and husband Damien have two children, Ocean, 8, and Luna, 3. Any decision around her 2026 netball plans would be around what was best for them as a family.

Tactix and Silver Ferns defender Karin Burger would be an excellent addition for any Super Netball team.

Vastly experienced and a proficient long range shooter, Ekenasio would be a tremendous addition for any Super Netball side, who also utilise the two point ‘Super Shot’.

“Not closing the door at all. As a competitor you always want to go that one step more. In my mind I’d so, so love to. It would just be if it could work out for our family.”

Kiwi netball coach Kiri Wills, who guides the Queensland Firebirds in Super Netball, described the gulf in training facilities from New Zealand as “comparing apples with oranges” earlier this year.

Ekenasio was certain the state-of-art high performance training environment in Australia and lucrative state government funding would be a drawcard for Silver Ferns.

“The access to facilities, the support, the professional environment they have over there, we just cannot compete with that. We’re pushing to find courts to train on over here. We’re going to schools to train on their courts,” Ekenasio said.

Tactix head coach Donna Wilkins did not expect to see a stack of Silver Ferns leaving the ANZ Premiership for Super Netball.

Several high-end talents could make the move, but there were only so many contracts and areas of the court for teams to fill. Super Netball sides would only prioritise Silver Ferns players who were better than Australian options and would be difference makers on court.

“You’ve got to support these athletes to do what they want to do and where these opportunities are. I don’t think there’ll be a massive amount [going to Australia],” Wilkins said.

“There’s still a lot of athletes here in New Zealand playing the game. If someone goes it gives an opportunity for somebody else to shine. That was the mantra coming into this year [for Tactix].”