A MASSIVE rule change to the forthcoming Super Netball season has been met with anger by some of the nation’s top players.
The competition announced on Tuesday that the 2020 season would feature the two-goal ‘Super Shot’ when it commences on August 1.
In the final five minutes of each quarter the new rule will be applied, where scorers shooting from a 1.9m designated zone within the goal circle will earn a second point for a successful effort.
However, Townsville’s Queensland Firebirds representative Kim Jenner said the players had been enraged by the decision given no consultation was done with the athletes.
She said they were informed of the change mere hours before it was released to the media, but at the end of the day they would have to adapt once the season starts.
“As players we were not addressed, we were told this was going to happen just a couple of hours before it was released to the media. The players aren’t happy about the whole situation,” Jenner said.
“Personally I don’t agree with the rule, I’m a very traditional netballer and I love the traditional rules.
“It’s just disappointing in that they were so good – the communication between the players and associations was so good during COVID and we were kept in the loop for everything (only) to bring this out of the blue
“But it’s in the game now, it is what it is and we’ll have to embrace that and make the most of it.”
Jenner knows the rule will “definitely change the game” — whether that is for the better or not remains to be seen.
It may heighten the pressure on the 22-year-old’s game day responsibilities in her role as a goal defender, and she hopes the change will not be implemented at other levels of the game.
“I’m lucky enough to have played Fast5 a couple of years ago and it definitely changes the whole way you think as a defender and where you want the shooters to be,” Jenner said.
“It will change in a way how the game is played but at the end of the day we play netball just to get out there.’
