Coach sick of ‘tiresome’ debate clouding urgent expansion issue
The import cap debate has been the centre of talks in the netball world for the last three years – and West Coast Fever coach Dan Ryan feels it’s getting “tiresome”.
A wave of international talent has made its way to Australian soil to play in the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN), widely considered the world’s best league.
Dan Ryan led the Fever to win the club’s first premiership in his first year in charge. Daniel Pockett
There has been no shortage of international stars past and present who have expressed their dream to play in the SSN, bringing a new challenge for local talent. But that dream has not always been as accessible to imports as it is now.
The league once had a one international player per team ruling when it was a trans-Tasman ANZ Championship competition between 2008 and 2016.
When it rebranded to being a domestic competition, the SSN scrapped all import rules, with 16 internationals signing in that inaugural season.
That number has now grown to 25 players taking up one of the 80 spots available on the full-time rosters for the 2027 season, leaving 55 spaces for local talents.
With few spots available, it has become harder for any netballer to secure a spot on one of the eight teams and fans have had to accept that some of their local favourites could miss out in favour of a stronger international talent.
In the recent signing window, where all players were free agents, the likes of Kate Eddy and Lucy Austin missed out on a contract to international talent.
Austin went from debuting with the Diamonds to missing out on a contract in the competition she had been part of for four years within the space of 10 months. Eddy, similarly, was called into the Diamonds extended squad in 2025, but was stuck on the fringes of the defensive-mid court unit and never debuted.
While the pair have since inked a training partner contract – making them available as an immediate injury cover – with the Mavericks, many were quick to point to the rising number of imports stealing opportunities from local stars.
Neither Eddy nor Austin held their misfortunes against any international talent, both reiterating that in interviews and social media posts. But it cannot be overlooked that the pair both play in positions dominated by international stars.
Of the 25 international players, only three are not shooters or defenders, meaning 45 per cent of the 48 spots across those two positions (including the bench) are taken by imports.
Austin, a former shooter at the GWS Giants (now Sydney Sirens), was unable to get a new deal at the club, who instead secured Silver Ferns superstar Grace Nweke.
Kate Eddy competes against South African-Thunderbirds star Elmere van der Berg. Getty Images
Eddy, on the other hand, was effectively replaced by Kiwi midcourt star Mila Reuelu-Buchanan at the Melbourne Vixens.
But Ryan, a premiership-winning coach, does not feel imports are the issue. Instead, he has questioned why the SSN has never expanded past eight teams or increased squad sizes to “ensure we are providing opportunities” for local talent.
“We can’t criticise something that has embraced the tagline of being ‘the best netball league in the world’,” he told nine.com.au.
“To be the best netball league in the world, you need to have the best players in the world. With the influx of Silver Ferns we have coming into the competition next year, we genuinely, for the first time, have the best of the best in the SSN.
“We have players who are deserving of contracts who have missed out, and that’s not on clubs because they’ve chosen to go with imports, it’s because that’s what is in the best interests of their team to be successful.”
Ryan does not shy away from the fact that he would be one of the coaches most impacted if an import cap was introduced, with six of the 10 members in his West Coast Fever team international talents.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds are in a similar position to the Fever with five imports, with the squad claiming three of the past five SSN grand finals.
Without those stars, Ryan feels the SSN will lose “the X factor” that helps it thrive.
“Our competition is nothing without the imports. They are the fan favourites,” he continued.
“I don’t shy away from the fact that we have six imports. Some of that can be circumstantial based on how recruitment plays out.
“Netball needs to step out of its conservative ways and start being more commercially driven and more aggressive to catch up with the other codes that are starting to overtake as quickly.
“You look at America, it hosts the best basketball competitions in the world in the NBA and WNBA. England hosts the premiere football competitions. We provide the best professional competition for netballers globally.
“It’s not a competition for just Australians or pathway athletes, it’s not a development league. It’s the best of the best in world netball. What we’re actually doing as a country is growing the game and making it better than it’s ever been.”
While many recognise that imports are entertaining, some fear for the next generation of Diamonds stars who are unable to get through to the SSN.
The likes of rising shooting sensation Sophie Fawns made the move to England last season, while Donnell Wallam went to New Zealand for the 2025 season.
Those fears only heightened further at the Commonwealth Games, with fans given flashbacks to the SSN grand final when the same defensive and shooting combination from that game stepped out when Australia faced Jamaica in a match that decided who would play for gold.
Like the grand final, Adelaide and Jamaican defensive duo Latanya Wilson and Shamera Sterling Humphrey stopped Australian and Vixens duo Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin from winning the tournament’s top prize.
Jamaica defeated the Diamonds 46-45 in Glasgow. Getty Images
Netball Australia has delayed talks of an expansion to a 10-team competition for now, but Ryan believes investment in the pathways division could help eliminate the worry local talent may have about obtaining one of the 80 spots in the SSN.
“The reserve grade has been in operation over the past two seasons but it is still very much in its amateur ranks in terms of how (it operates),” Ryan said.
“It is a space that needs major investment to ensure that we are ensuring that pipeline of talent becomes ready to play in the SSN.
“If the talent is good enough, the talent will get signed to the SSN. If the talent isn’t quite ready, the talent probably isn’t going to get signed yet. So what we’re doing underneath super netball to give athletes the best possible chance of being SSN ready is most important to ensure that we close that gap.
“But we should look at adding more teams ... and continue to open the door to the best players around the planet while providing more opportunities to locally based players. That way we genuinely have the best of the best, and most importantly, enough opportunity that meets the demands of our product.”
Fans will have to wait a little longer for the next SSN season to begin, but in the meantime, fans will get to witness the Silver Ferns take on the Australian Diamonds in the Constellation Cup.
The first game of that series will be in Auckland on Sunday, October 18.
