Amateur netballers laugh off controversial block

Two Victorian-based netballers who made global headlines with an unorthodox block have defended the play, but concede they won't be trying it again anytime soon.

Playing in the Peninsula Football Netball League, Sommerville Seagulls player Becky Dixon was lining up a shot when Frankston Bombers rival Maddy Zach dropped onto all fours to allow teammate Jen Simmons to climb onto her back and swat the ball away.

All three players appeared on the Today Show this morning, making light of the debate that has since swirled about the legality of the play.

"As long as Maddy is three feet away from me, it's fine," Dixon admitted, despite being on the receiving end of the block.Simmons said it was the first time they'd tried the manoeuvre and they aren't planning a repeat."I probably wouldn't do it in a serious game, but we knew we weren't going to win so we thought we'd just have some fun with it," the defender said."We were like, let's try and do a move and I was like 'I can't do the lift because my back's sore' so then we just came up with the different kind of move that worked for us."

Footage of the bizarre block went viral on Facebook, generating more than 400,000 views within days and prompting scores of players to mimic the move.

But others slammed it, suggesting it was against the spirit of the game.

Fellow Frankston player Tahlia Hartskeerl admitted the move was controversial, but within the rules. "The young umpire caught a bit of flack about (allowing) it," Frankston player Tahlia Hartskeerl told 774 ABC Melbourne radio yesterday.

"(But) all the umpires, the senior ones, said 'it was all okay'."

The girls even tried the move earlier in the match with a comical result.

"The girls both fell over, so it didn't quite work," Ms Hartskeerl said.

"The shooter did miss, though, because she was too busy having a cackle to herself."