The GIANTS will relocate to Queensland in the next 24 hours, ahead of the Queensland border closing to Sydney residents from 1am Saturday.
As previously announced, the GIANTS were set to relocate to the competition wide Queensland hub after three rounds of action in Sydney at Ken Rosewall Arena.
However, with the new border restrictions, both the GIANTS and Swifts will need to make the move to Queensland immediately.
Instead of opening their season against the West Coast Fever on Saturday, the GIANTS will now host the Swifts at Nissan Arena in Brisbane this Sunday, with the following fixtures to be finalised in the coming days.
Carolyn Campbell, Netball NSW CEO – who owns and operates both clubs – said today’s developments were disappointing for netball fans across the state, but stressed the clubs could still play home games later this year.
“We are firstly very disappointed for our GIANTS and Swifts members who were really looking forward to seeing both our teams at their new home of Ken Rosewall Arena this weekend,” she said.
“I know that the players from both clubs love the connection they have with netball fans across the state and not getting the opportunity to play in Sydney this weekend will be a big blow for them too.
“However, we have always said we’d do what was necessary to make a season happen in 2020 and the playing group are a credit to us. They are exceptional professionals and will take this in their stride to do what is good for the bigger picture.
“I would like to thank our players, coaches and club staff for their continued commitment, innovation, flexibility and willingness to get things done.”
She also said she looked forward to the second phase of the fixture when a number of GIANTS and Swifts games would return to NSW pending medical advice and border restrictions.
“We have not given up on having home games for both the GIANTS and Swifts this year in Sydney,” she said.
“As the events of today show, the situation is fluid and we will be doing everything in our power to bring games to Sydney when the second round of fixtures is released.
“The health and safety of our players, coaches, staff, members and fans is always our number one priority and we will work within the latest health guidelines provided to us by state and federal authorities.
“I would love to see all of NSW get behind both our teams as they head north and shout as loud as they can from here to get them over the line.”
Suncorp Super Netball CEO Chris Symington said while the changes were unfortunate, the fixture was designed to deal with the uncertainties of a constantly-shifting public health crisis.
And he said the league, clubs and players remained committed to ensuring a full, safe and competitive season could be conducted.
‘’The league has understood from the beginning that this season would need to be flexible to ensure we’re able to carry out a full 60-match competition and we have created a system and fixture to deal with the uncertainty of this health emergency,” he said.
“The health and safety of all players, officials and support staff is paramount and by moving all scheduled matches to Queensland this weekend and beyond, we’re ensuring this safety, along with the sustainability of the season.
“We thank all of our players, officials and support staff, especially those based in NSW today, for being so flexible with the circumstances we’re facing.
“We understand it isn’t easy to leave home for an extended period at short notice and we will ensure the league is adequately supporting these teams.”
The GIANTS will now begin their 2020 season this Sunday, August 2 against the Swifts at Brisbane Arena.
