The boss of the GWS Giants Super Netball team says it’s “disappointing” the AFL has scheduled the Swans-Giants elimination final at the same time as the netball grand final.
The Giants are involved in both matches, with the netball decider against the Sydney Swifts set down for a 3pm start on Saturday.
The AFL has scheduled the Swans-Giants match to start at 3.20pm, leaving the club’s fans with a major dilemma.
** The Super Netball grand final between GWS Giants and Sydney Swifts will be live on Nine from 2:30pm Saturday **
“It’s obviously disappointing. We would love it to be scheduled differently, but it’s not easy for us to control,” Giants general manager Tim Underwood told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“What we are going to demonstrate and what our fans will need to demonstrate is how to operate two screens. I would hope it doesn’t actually impact our viewership as a total code.”
Netball had originally expected to have the grand final on a weekend free of AFL, with the draw including a bye for all teams between round 23 and the first week of finals.
But earlier this month the AFL removed the bye, instead choosing to start the finals a week early.
“It’s probably disappointing [the AFL] didn’t consider us, but I wouldn’t think they would think of us,” Underwood said.
“The reality is that all sport is just doing their best to get their competition away as best as they can. It’s just unlucky.”
Netball Australia boss Kelly Ryan said the conflict between the two events was a shame.
“I would love to have them aligned, so there was no clash,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald. “But we do appreciate what everyone’s going through in the sport.”
“Obviously it would have been better if we worked together,” she said. “It would have also been fantastic from a sport in NSW perspective considering what NSW is going through.”
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