{"id":823106,"date":"2026-07-25T14:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T14:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/823106\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T14:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T14:46:16","slug":"australian-diamonds-secure-dominant-win-over-tonga-at-commonwealth-games-despite-ongoing-pay-dispute-with-netball-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/823106\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Diamonds secure dominant win over Tonga at Commonwealth Games despite ongoing pay dispute with Netball Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hannah<\/p>\n

July 25, 2026 \u2014 11:22pm<\/p>\n

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Glasgow: The Diamonds have pushed aside a pay dispute with Netball Australia to clinch a clinical and ruthless 61-goal win over Tonga in their opening match of the Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n

The Diamonds\u2019 win on Saturday was the first step in the defence of their 2022 gold medal from Birmingham, but once again they will have a campaign overshadowed by a battle with Netball Australia over pay.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Diamonds huddle up during the win over Tonga.Getty Images<\/p>\n

The current Super Netball collective player agreement expires on September 30, meaning all 88 players, including the Diamonds squad, will be off contract. The dispute between Netball Australia and the players\u2019 union centres on the distribution of netball\u2019s revenue and player frustration over pregnancy and parenting policies.<\/p>\n

It is a similar situation to the messy and extended pay negotiations that dominated headlines during the Diamonds\u2019 World Cup campaign in 2023, as players battled for a revenue-sharing partnership and more financial transparency.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Melbourne<\/a><\/p>\n

The long and bitter dispute culminated in the resignation of chief executive Kelly Ryan.<\/p>\n

Diamonds and Melbourne Vixens star Kiera Austin said after the win over Tonga that the team was keeping its focus on the competition.<\/p>\n

She pointed out that the Commonwealth Games are one of two marquee events for netball, and therefore an opportunity that doesn\u2019t come around often.<\/p>\n

But she acknowledged that player delegates were doing \u201clots of work to get that [deal] done\u201d.<\/p>\n

Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich dismissed suggestions the pay dispute would be a distraction for her players at the Games, saying the team was \u201cfully focused on the job at hand\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"KieraKiera Austin (centre) and Australian Diamonds teammates. Simon Schluter<\/p>\n

But the Australian Netball Players\u2019 Association had previously confirmed that players rejected a \u201cfinal offer\u201d from Netball Australia at a recent full board meeting and at a player meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is that players were not prepared to take a real wage cut,\u201d a union spokesperson said. \u201cEspecially without real improvements in conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ongoing CPA negotiations are causing the players a lot of stress. They are champion athletes but also working mums, working students and people with second and third jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s made the situation worse is that Netball Australia has not allowed written, non-binding contract offers to be exchanged as an interim measure.\u201d<\/p>\n

They questioned why \u201cthe highest-paid people in netball [are] the administrators\u201d and why \u201cmost players [are] being asked to accept a real wage cut\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players see packed stadiums and ask: \u2018Where does the money go?\u2019 \u2018Why do athletes in other major sports in Australia receive about 30 per cent of the revenue they generate while netballers only receive about half of that?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are fair questions and it\u2019s our job to ask them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said players needed certainty on the futures, adding \u201cthey need to know if they can pay the bills\u201d.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Emily<\/a><\/p>\n

Netball Australia was contacted for comment, but was unable to respond before publication due to the time difference between Glasgow and Australia.<\/p>\n

The union\u2019s 2026 wellbeing survey reported 77 per cent of netball players ranked financial security and fair pay as their most significant challenge, increasing from 69 per cent in 2025.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said maternity and parenting policies were also a major issue for players, and that Netball Australia\u2019s pregnancy and parental policy had not been \u201csubstantively updated in almost a decade\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Australia\u2019s No.1 team participation sport for women and girls, netball\u2019s policies should have best practice, but we don\u2019t,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have fallen behind other sports in the length of paid parental leave and return-to-play support. We have a lot of work to do and we need to step up.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May this year, Netball Australia<\/a> told this masthead its maternity leave policy was designed to support the sport\u2019s elite athletes.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Super Netball Grand Final was sold-out again in 2026Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pregnancy policy is currently being actively reviewed and updated by Netball Australia, the Australian Netball Players\u2019 Association and Suncorp Super Netball clubs,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there\u2019s no set date for the review to be finalised, we\u2019re working closely with ANPA and clubs to ensure the policy supports our athletes across Suncorp Super Netball and the Australian Diamonds program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Melbourne<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite the 2023 pay dispute, the Diamonds took home the World Cup title with a win over England in the final.<\/p>\n

And by November 2025, it looked like the sport had completely turned things around financially. Netball Australia recorded a third straight operating profit<\/a> and reduced its debt from $4.2 million to $1.2 million, while Super Netball crowds averaged more than 6000 fans per game in the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

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\"HannahHannah Kennelly<\/a> is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"July 25, 2026 \u2014 11:22pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-823106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}