NNZ owns the Stars, the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic and the Mainland Tactix, while the Northern Mystics, the Central Pulse and the Southern Steel are owned by their respective zones.
Magic liaison manager Gary Dawson told RNZ the proposed financial model would not have made it feasible for the club to enter a team in the new league, while Central Pulse chief executive Ann Hay said it would be challenging.
The Herald put Dawson’s claims to Williams, who said it is purely based on securing private backing.
“Maybe he’s right. But from other people’s position, maybe he’s wrong. So very, very simple around those things. Some people can do it, some people can’t do it.
“There were definitely three or four clubs that were ready to go. The others were probably not as fundamentally ready to go. There were documents out there floating around.
“We were well along the way of connecting all the dots together. But ultimately everyone sits here and says, ‘Okay, what about the burdens and all that sort of stuff?’ Well, the reality is that the burden actually sat with us to get the league up and running.”
Williams said he and Mowbray still have not spoken to Wootten or NNZ board chair Alastair Carruthers since Friday and claim to be unsure why the deal fell apart. However, Williams is in regular contact with the Players Association, run by Pippa Moore.
Through the eight weeks since the initial short-term agreement was signed, Williams said they had weekly interactions with NNZ about its position.
“Fundamentally, a week before this, we still had confirmation that they really, really wanted to make it work. So something must have changed in their heads, and that’s life. But just let us know what changed and we’ll move on.”
In Friday’s NNZ statement, Wootten said it had agreed to terms when it signed the non-binding agreement eight weeks ago, but as things progressed, the parties were no longer aligned.
However, Williams said he doesn’t see it that way.
“When you say terms, it’s about intention. What’s the intention? We went into this with these clear intentions. Our intentions have not changed. Very, very clearly, our intentions have not changed.
“How you figure out those elements, that’s where you get the long form agreements and you go from those processes. And from our point, our intentions have not changed.
“You’ve got to remember the intentions were already signed and underway pre-Jennah even coming on board. So there’s been a change of leadership and a change of elements on those sides.”
Last week, Williams told Newstalk ZB that ultimately it came down to control of the league, but Wootten told media it wasn’t about control and NNZ is very open to change.
Williams was bemused by Wootten’s comment.
“I don’t understand because the reality is what she’s doing is she’s giving us the controlling power to harness this league, to connect with the fans, connect with the players, to connect with the greater community of netball.
Netball NZ CEO Jennah Wootten. Photo / Photosport
“Ultimately, that was their intent when they did it. So if it’s not about that, then it must be about something else, and it’d be great to understand that.”
Wootten claimed NNZ was contributing a significant sum towards the domestic league.
Williams was asked how the league’s financial landscape would come together.
“The detail I don’t think is relevant around that because private people do things for different reasons, and it’s around connecting with private people to understand why they want to do it. And if they have the same why as us, then the money part is a second thought.
“So for us it was actually about tying in individuals, both sponsors, broadcasters and individuals to say, ‘Hey, are you all on the same collective why? And why are we doing this?’
“We’re doing this for a launch platform for women in sport. We’re doing this because the Silver Ferns are the greatest netball team, and how do we harness that? We’re doing this for the 5-, 6-, 7-year-old girls that want to be Silver Fern players or want to be Magic players or want to be Steel players.
“If we can get everyone in the same room that has the same why, that’s when all those other elements take care of themselves.”
The idea has been floated publicly of Williams and Mowbray creating their own rogue, private competition without NNZ’s backing.
However, Williams poured cold water on the suggestion.
“I genuinely don’t think it’ll be beneficial for the netball ecosystem. And I don’t think it’d be beneficial for the players in the long term. I don’t think it’ll be beneficial for the Silver Ferns. I tell you what, it’d be fun though if we could deploy some of the plans that we had. But I don’t think it’s us.
“I think the reality around that stuff is what’s your why? And your why is creating a better Silver Ferns, a better professional thing, a better pathway. Would that achieve that? I probably, in my own head, say no, it wouldn’t achieve that.
“We’re not here to be disruptive in a manner that attacks sporting bodies or anything like that. That’s not who we are. We want to put water on the flower and make it grow.”
Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray.
Williams was asked if their vision included the National Netball League, the feeder competition for the ANZ Premiership.
“The ultimate process was to build all internally and go from there. But you know, you have short, middle-term and long-term visions of what you see and then you adapt to what fans want to see and what players want.”
Williams wanted to be very clear their work would have zero overlap with the Silver Ferns or their high-performance programme.
“She [Mowbray] wanted to make the All Blacks of the Silver Ferns. She very clearly said that. For us, there was never, ever any element that we would step on the Silver Ferns’ toes. We want to make the best Silver Ferns. That’s the country we all represent and love.”
Williams said they wanted to improve professionalism in netball and to connect with fans and the regions.
“Those visions haven’t changed in our eyes. That’s always our intention with sport, and we love it for those reasons. Where everything gets to with netball, we don’t know, and we’re sort of letting New Zealand Netball do their thing and communicate with who they need to communicate with.
“But fundamentally, we support the players. We’ve had great communications with the players through this whole process. That hasn’t changed. We’re still talking, which is fantastic, just to understand their things. We’re really keen to get some answers and understand why.”
Williams hinted they would be open to revisiting the deal with NNZ.
“I’d like to understand first why, and then that will let us have hope, if that makes sense. But I also understand that people do make decisions and you’ve just got to go with it.
“But from our side, look, where we can, we will support the players and then let’s see what the future has because one thing’s very clear from our side is we love sport. We love what it does for this country, and I think lastly it’s watching it impact on the communities and bringing New Zealand together as a whole.”
Nathan Limm has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast and commentates rugby and netball for Gold Sport.