Don't change netball's rules: QLD coach

Jul 31, 2016 - 6:19 AM Queensland Firebirds coach Roselee Jencke has urged Netball Australia to shun mooted rule changes for next season's revamped Australian league.

Jencke's plea came after the Firebirds' exhilarating 69-67 double extra-time victory over the NSW Swifts in the trans-Tasman decider in Brisbane on Sunday.

Next year, Netball Australia will launch a new eight-team national netball league featuring the five current Australian franchises and three new sides.

Rule changes have been touted in order to appeal to a broader audience with a two-point scoring zone under heavy consideration.

However, Jencke is taking on the mantra of if it's not broken, don't fix it.

"Today's game was a really good statement in saying that we do not need to change the rules at all," she said.

"We should be really confident that our game has the best package and we don't need to change anything because everybody loves it as it is.

"To finish like that is enormous for the sport. It's really exciting to go into double overtime and to have that as a spectacle, live on television, and to have the crowd we had today, people will be talking about it for weeks.

"The public will be thinking that netball is an awesome sport because it's so close and so tough."

Next season will usher in a new era for trans-Tasman netball with standalone Australian and New Zealand competitions, with Sunday's grand-final thriller the last game of the original championship which began in 2008.

The three new Australian teams will consist of two franchises backed by by Collingwood and Greater Western Sydney, while NRL club Melbourne Storm will base a team on the Sunshine Coast.

Source: AAP