When contacted for comment on Frew, Southern Steel chief executive Sonya Fleming expressed frustration with the state of affairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really disappointed to have lost players of this calibre \u2013 it\u2019s heartbreaking to be honest. We knew our roster would be in hot demand after such a successful season and we are now witnessing the impact of Netball New Zealand\u2019s decision to change the eligibility rules for players who compete internationally,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Wendy Frew reportedly won’t re-sign with the Southern Steel. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly frustrating to not be in a position to protect them. In saying that, we absolutely understand and respect our players had to make these decisions as there is nothing currently on offer for them here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile there is going to be a domestic league in 2027, as the Netball New Zealand board chair has told media previously, we are waiting on our governing body to confirm the details, then work together with the franchises and the NZNPA to formalise a plan for our league before we will be in a position to contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of our franchise staff and players are now off contract. Once we have confirmation of our league, we will immediately be resuming some very important conversations to retain our key people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is 2027 will be a rebuilding phase for the Steel, and the sport in New Zealand, but we will embrace that with the professionalism and passion we are renowned for in the south.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Maddy Gordon<\/a> and Ameliaranne Ekenasio<\/a> have signed with the West Coast Fever, Karin Burger has re-signed with the Lightning, and Kelly Jackson and Te Paea Selby-Rickit have extended their stay at the Firebirds.<\/p>\n Other Kiwi players are also flocking to the UK\u2019s Netball Super League<\/a>. Mystics defender Charlotte Manley has signed with the Leeds Rhinos for next year. Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic shooter Saviour Tui and Mainland Tactix midcourter Holly Mather have signed with the Welsh Dragons. Former Silver Fern Tiana Metuarau has re-signed at the Birmingham Panthers.<\/p>\n Frew has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n Nathan Limm<\/a> 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<\/a> and commentates rugby and netball for Gold Sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When contacted for comment on Frew, Southern Steel chief executive Sonya Fleming expressed frustration with the state of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[12465,1320,102564,188697,2082,254121,2219,6101,185,16762,111,139,69,13180,76884,40182,1560,6102,171,213,1620,1361,61,56603],"class_list":["post-581214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-anz","tag-coach","tag-deny","tag-exited","tag-for","tag-frew","tag-gone","tag-good","tag-is","tag-netball","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-premiership","tag-refuse","tag-refusing","tag-report","tag-side","tag-southern","tag-sports","tag-steel","tag-that","tag-to","tag-wendy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}