KEY POINTS:
The contentious import rules in the transtasman league look set for an overhaul for the 2010 season.
The recent stand-off between Netball New Zealand and the Southern Steel over allowing young Australia shooter Leah Shoard to play down south next season was the latest in a string of
squabbles that have erupted over the eligibility criteria since the competition began.
However Netball New Zealand chief executive Raelene Castle expects a rule change in the new year will leave no room for disputes.
The Transtasman Netball League office will put a paper out for discussion, but Castle said that at this stage it was likely imports would be restricted to one for each franchise, with any subjectivity removed.
"The preference of both Netball New Zealand and Netball Australia is to move to one as of right," said Castle.
"You get one and you won't get a say if there's a second one or not, it just won't be an option."
It also means Netball New Zealand won't have any say in which ineligible players franchises choose to pick up.
Frustratingly for the respective national bodies, the proposed change would mean a return to the original rules which were drafted when the new competition was first introduced.
Those criteria were later changed after an outcry from several Kiwi franchises that the rules would likely prevent home-grown players that had represented Pacific Island nations at international level from being including in the transtasman league.
After some strong petitioning from the New Zealand Players Association, the criteria were later changed to allow franchises to sign two ineligible players. However the rules stipulated Kiwi sides could sign only one ineligible player as of right, and that player had to be a New Zealand citizen.
If a franchise wished to sign an overseas-based player, whether it be as their first or second import, they needed Netball NZ approval to do so.
However, only two players in next year's ANZ Championship - Frances Solia (Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic) and Vilimaina Davu (Northern Mystics) - fit under the rule of being New Zealand citizens yet ineligible for the national team. That leaves the remaining Kiwi teams unable to select an ineligible player by right.
Meanwhile the rules across the Tasman allow franchises to contract one overseas player as of right, with the option of signing a second with the approval of Netball Australia.
The discrepancy has become extremely problematic for New Zealand teams because if they wish to sign an overseas-based player, they will have to wait until all the squads are named, while the Australian teams can snap up the top internationals.
How it works
The ineligible player criteria for NZ franchises:
* Each franchise has the right to contract one ineligible player who is a New Zealand citizen (ie, a player who lives in NZ but has represented another country at the world champs).
* If a franchise wants to contract another ineligible player (either a NZ citizen or an overseas player) it must seek approval.
The likely new rule:
* All teams will be able to contract one ineligible player as of right, with no option to contract a second.
