Covid 19 coronavirus: Netball New Zealand announce cancellation of final regular season round of ANZ Premiership matches

Whitney Souness of the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic. Photo / Photosport

The final round of the ANZ Premiership regular season has been cancelled.

Netball New Zealand has confirmed that all games will be drawn due to the change in Covid-19 alert levels around the country.

This means the Round 10 matches – held on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th (Auckland), Sunday 16th (Wellington and Dunedin) and Monday 17th August (Wellington) - will not be played, with each team awarded two points for the draw.

The decision would have been made easier by the fact that final regular season round was irrelevant, as the matches for the finals series - tentatively scheduled for next Sunday in Invercargill - had already been set.

Netball New Zealand chief executive Jennie Wyllie said their immediate thoughts were for the safety of all those involved in the Premiership.

"Decisions like these are never easy to make but we felt it was in the best interest of safety and equity for all teams that we didn't contest the last round," she said.

"There was no material impact on the placings heading into the ANZ Premiership final series so it made sense to declare these games drawn.

"We have been fortunate to play as many weeks of netball, in front of live crowds, for as long as we have. But now is the time for us to play our part in keeping the country safe and we will be reviewing future decisions over the coming days."

Wyllie said they would be assessing the finals series once they had received more guidance from the Ministry of Health and New Zealand Government later in the week.

The Central Pulse are set to take on the Mainland Tactix in the final, with the Pulse the top qualifiers.

Refunds will be available for anyone who had purchased tickets to the final round of regular season matches.