Netball: Fastnet set to bring world's greatest to NZ

New Zealand are likely to defend their title at home next year. Photo / Getty Images

There won't be a netball world championships in New Zealand any time soon but the next best thing will be hitting our shores next year.

Although it still needs final approval from the International Federation of Netball Associations, it is highly likely that the Fastnet Series will be played in New Zealand then.

Fastnet (short for "fast netball") features the top six teams in the world in an abbreviated form of the game; it means that nations like Fiji, Malawi and South Africa, not normally seen in this part of the world outside world championships, will be on display.

The proposal includes one tournament in a New Zealand city, probably Auckland, to be followed the week after with another event in Australia, most likely Sydney.

"We hope it will be like sevens rugby - two weeks in a row," says Netball New Zealand CEO Raelene Castle. "We want everybody to dress up like these crazy fans here in Singapore. We hope fans will cross the Tasman too - the ultimate week of netball and shopping."

Castle emphasises that the deal is not done yet, but is "extremely confident" it will happen, saying that the IFNA have approved the plan in principle.

Fastnet was introduced in 2009 and features power plays, two-point goals from outside the circle and rapid-fire substitutions. Castle hopes that further changes are possible to differentiate the product from the standard form of the game.

"We wanted people to turn on the TV and know straight away that they are watching Fastnet rather than netball," says Castle. "We want the Fastnet rules to be significantly different from normal netball."

Castle says the court could be divided into halves rather than thirds, and five players per team are possible new variations.

New Zealand were the inaugural champions in 2009 and defended with a young team last year. They will be looking for a hat-trick this year before competing on home turf in November 2012.

Meanwhile, the IFNA congress held last week also discussed proposed changes to the format of the world championships, ahead of the next edition in 2015. There was much debate over the current format of 16 teams followed by quarter-finals, semifinals and final as the ideal way to find the world champions.

Other options include increasing the number of teams and splitting into a top eight and bottom eight, with a full round robin within those sectors. Castle would like to see separate cup, plate and bowl trophies, similar to the system used in rugby sevens.

"We would like the mid-level teams to have a chance to win an international trophy and help with funding when they go back to their governments. It is all at the discussion stage - the ultimate aim is to make it more exciting for fans and more commercially attractive so we can grow the television money."

IFNA president Molly Rhone says the debate was robust, and is glad there are plenty of options on the table. She also dismisses criticism, mainly emanating from Australia and New Zealand, that one-sided group matches do nothing for the sport.

"The only way to grow the game is to expose teams to different levels of competition," says Rhone. "Ten years ago everybody talked about the top two [New Zealand and Australia]. Now they talk about a top four and we hope one day it will be six."