Ex-Silver Fern Erena Mikaere says domestic league uncertainty has been 'devastating' and has eroded trust in Netball NZ

On Wednesday morning, Erena Mikaere sat down with TVNZ Breakfast and used a word that doesn't come easily to athletes talking about their own sport: devastating. The Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic defender, a former Silver Fern, said the long uncertainty over New Zealand's domestic netball league has worn on her more than she expected, and has shaken her trust in Netball NZ.

The cause is the absence of a confirmed 2027 competition. For a time, a privatised league backed by Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams looked like the answer. Then Netball NZ pulled out of negotiations with the investors, just eight weeks after signing a term sheet with them.

Netball NZ chief executive Jenna Wootten said earlier this week that the arrangement had fallen over because it lacked key principles and objectives. In her view, the final proposition would not have been good for the long-term health of the game in Aotearoa. Wootten also said Netball NZ is in advanced plans for a concept of its own, which it began work on earlier this year, and that it is currently negotiating with possible broadcasters.

How the players found out has added to the damage. Mikaere and her colleagues learned the franchised league was dead from an email leaked to media. Wootten later apologised, calling the situation regrettable.

Mikaere said the news blindsided her. She had been telling people the outlook was positive and that a solution looked likely. Adding the collapse to her month, she said, was quite shocking. She described herself as a naturally strong person who is generally fine with most things, but said she has watched the uncertainty slowly take a toll, in the way any doubt over work and income does.

Her heaviest worry is for the next generation, and it is personal. She has a 17-year-old daughter, and she said it breaks her heart to see young players unsure of the pathway to the dreams they are chasing. Alongside that sits the plain prospect of losing her own job.

There is also no obvious fallback. Williams told RNZ on Tuesday that he has no plans to launch a rebel domestic competition, closing off another possible lifeline for the players.

Mikaere said the relationship between players and Netball NZ now needs rebuilding, and that trust is something given over time. She said the first step would be simply being part of the conversation, with players brought back to the table to talk about solutions for the league. Not being spoken to, she said, is where the loss of trust begins. Former Silver Fern Maia Wilson told 1News the same thing, saying the track record of what has gone on before had done considerable damage to players' trust in the governing body.

Mikaere is 38 and twice capped for New Zealand, with almost 16 years as a professional. She is not ready to stop. She said grassroots netball is thriving and has been for a long time, which makes the situation heartbreaking. She had hoped to leave the dress in a better place than she found it, and said that may now take more than 10 years. What to watch is whether Netball NZ's own competition concept and its broadcaster talks take shape, and whether players are brought into the conversation, before 2027.