Netball: Southern Steel left high and dry

Photo / Natalie Slade

The Southern Steel have lost one of their main drawcards for this month's transtasman league pre-season tournament in Queenstown, with the NSW Swifts deciding to bypass the event.

The Swifts accepted an invitation to play in the three-day tournament, but later withdrew after the Northern Mystics came calling with an offer of their own.

The Sydney team will instead play two matches against the Mystics in Auckland on January 29 and 30 - the same weekend as the Queenstown tournament.

The Steel are understood to be upset the Mystics organised these fixtures at the expense of their tournament.

This is the third year the Steel have hosted the tournament and they wanted to grow it each year and establish it as a premier pre-season event.

But without the Swifts and Mystics there will be just four ANZ Championship franchises at this year's event - the Steel, Queensland Firebirds, Central Pulse and Canterbury Tactix - as well as a team from the Australian Institute of Sport.

Mystics chief executive Mark Cameron said the franchise opted not to go to Queenstown this year because of the expense, which he estimates to be around $20,000, and the lack of time the team would have had together leading in to the tournament.

He said it was never his intention to get the Swifts to choose between the two.

"It wasn't a case of us trying to sabotage another tournament," he said.

"We knocked on their door and said 'Look if you're coming to Queenstown, how about you stop in to Auckland on the way and play us?' and from that they actually made a decision to just come to Auckland."

Cameron said the Swifts' decision to bypass Queenstown also came down to finances.

"Coming across to us was far more economical for them."

The Swifts' withdrawal has left the Steel scratching around for another top-name team to attend the tournament, but as yet they have been unable to convince any to make the trip.

Much of their promotion for this year's tournament had been geared around the inclusion of the star-studded Swifts; the team features several top internationals including Catherine Cox, Kimberlee Green, Mo'onia Gerrard and England's Sonia Mkoloma.

The Steel also approached the English national team, who will next week face the Silver Ferns in a three-test series, to see if they were interested, but the timing was not right.

It is understood England are planning a trip to the Southern Hemisphere later in the year to play ANZ Championship franchises as part of their preparation for the world championships in July.