ANZ Championship Netball NSW Swifts (Red) vs LG Northern Mystics (Blue). Swifts Kimberlee Green (right) blocks Joline Henry.

ANZ Championship Netball NSW Swifts (Red) vs LG Northern Mystics (Blue). Swifts Kimberlee Green (right) blocks Joline Henry.

Network Ten’s failure to telecast live Monday’s NSW Swifts v Waikato Magic  match has raised the ire of netball fans across two countries. And mine.


A 7.40pm match containing international stars from three countries - Australia, New Zealand and England  – will instead begin on Ten at 11.30pm - even in school holidays too late for young girls to stay up and watch.


As fitting a match featuring Kimberlee Green, Sonia Mkoloma and Irene van Dyk among several internationals, it is likely to be a sellout at  the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre -  as of this morning only a couple of hundred tickets remain - making the delay even worse.

Delayed sport has had its day. Twitter, Facebook and live blogs have seen to that. Ten might as well not show it at all.

There are two particularly sad things about this broadcast decision. Firstly, Monday night Swifts matches were broadcast live last year, so this is a retrograde step for a sport moving forwards quickly.


Secondly, there is no Monday night football because of representative fixtures - so the girls, for once,  would have had sports fans all to themselves.

So, what will Ten and One broadcast instead? Whose line is it anyway?  Which I cannot criticise because I’ve never watched it; and the Biggest Loser Singles, which I think is about simultaneously losing weight and finding love.


Surely 14 of three countries’ finest athletes is better viewing regardless.


 Fans vented their anger on Facebook sites, posting to the NSW Swifts page, Ten Network and ANZ championship.


Tell me what you think of the decision in the comments below.


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IT WAS a delight to see women treated equally at the FFA A-League and W-League season awards  in Sydney this week – and no silly comments from the (female) compere about how pretty anyone looked. Sally Shipard of Canberra United took out the W-League player of the year award as  the undefeated premiers cleaned up in most categories. FFA is currently working on the format for next summer’s W-League and with an injection of $1m from the Gillard Government  hopefully it can come up with a long-range plan that best supports the Matildas’ pursuit of the Women’s World Cup.