Liz Watson has all-but-confirmed her move to Sunshine Coast Lightning as the deadline looms large in netball’s protracted player pay deal negotiations.
The Australian Diamonds captain will not confirm she is leaving the Melbourne Vixens after nearly a decade, saying she wants collective player agreement talks finalised and the certainty of a contract.
But Watson said on Wednesday she is settled on her team for next season and there is a letter of intent from them.
As of September 30, all Suncorp Super Netball player contracts end unless a pay deal is reached – although individual terms are being negotiated with clubs.
“I’ve definitely made that decision … I’m just waiting for that contract,” Watson told AAP of her playing plans.
“I just wanted to make sure everything is secure before I do that.
“I feel very supported, even from the Vixens family – they’ve been incredible and they’ll always be my family.”
She did nothing to hose down widespread speculation about the move, laughing and saying “everyone knows”.
“I think I’ve found out my team from all the different stories out there,” she said.
Watson was a crowd favourite during a Victorian Institute of Sport open day on Wednesday at its Lakeside Stadium headquarters.
Having won the World Cup last month, Watson and her Diamonds teammates are now preparing for October’s Constellation Cup in Australia followed by the visit of South Africa.
The pay negotiations have weighed heavily on the Diamonds, with a blackout period during the World Cup so team members could concentrate on the tournament.
“It has been very difficult – probably the hardest part of being captain,” she said.
“But we’ve had so many open discussions around it – before we got to the World Cup we sat down with our coach and said, ‘This is probably going to be an elephant in the room if we don’t talk about it’.
“To put the blackout period on it – it was probably a selfish thing in terms of all the other athletes in SSN who were just in limbo land … (but) we had to make that hard decision.”
One sign of progress is confirmation this week of details around the new Super Netball team, with the Melbourne Mavericks replacing the ill-fated Collingwood Magpies.
While Watson feels for players who cannot plan with any certainty, she said it is paramount for the new deal to properly reflect the progress being made in women’s sport.
“The inclusion of the new team, getting the team agreements organised as well, were the priorities,” she said.
“As frustrating as it is to drag it out, we want to make sure this sport is going to be one of the best sports in the next few years.
“We’ve seen so much growth in women’s sport … we don’t want to be left behind.
“It’s kind of scary for a few girls, I can imagine, just to not know what is happening.
“I know it will happen, I’m hoping soon, before that deadline – but if not, probably very close to after that deadline.”
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