Where are the Kelpies? Frustration grows as progress dips in men's netball

Now that all 14 rounds of the regular season have been played, we are on the countdown to finals.

On Saturday, the Adelaide Thunderbirds made it eight victories in a row with an 18-goal statement against the Sunshine Coast Lightning, 67-49. The minor premiers are the most in-form team in the top four and remain heavy favourites to take out the trophy.

The Melbourne Mavericks survived a scare from the Queensland Firebirds to keep their four-game winning streak going, 60-57. They head into their first finals campaign fuelled by an unwavering self-belief that makes them the most dangerous team. Anything could happen.

After some shaky form the West Coast Fever got back to their best in a thrilling match against the Melbourne Vixens, 64-55. The visitors needed to win by at least eight goals to claim third place and secure hosting rights for the minor semi-final.

At the start of the year, victory would have been seriously hard to come by against the Vixens, let alone by this margin. However, the second-ranked side are struggling mentally after going nine rounds undefeated and then losing four of their last five outings.

Will they be out of the finals in straight sets? It's difficult to know if the defending champions still believe they have what it takes to go back-to-back. An injury to shooter Lily Graham hasn't helped, impacting the depth on offer in their goal circle.

It took the Giants the full 14 rounds but they finally registered a win in 2026. ( Getty: Izhar Khan )

To round out the weekend, the Giants did the unthinkable. They finally got their first win of the season, 66-65, beating the NSW Swifts. There were emotional scenes in the Sydney Derby as the team celebrated a positive ending to an extremely tough season, and head coach Nerida Stewart credited their "never-say die attitude".

But is it RIP for the orange club? It turns out this might have been their last match.

There is so much going on in the sport right now with finals on the horizon, CPA negotiations taking place, all 88 athletes off contract in a matter of weeks and plenty of movement expected for the next signing period. Then there's the Commonwealth Games team that's going to be announced on Wednesday and the neglect being shown to men's netball.

If you missed it, don't worry — we'll get you up to speed with our Super Netball Round-Up.

Progress dips in men's netball

Two of the teams left to contest the title feature head coaches from men's netball: Dan Ryan at the Fever and Gerard Murphy at the Mavericks.

Every Super Netball side also has male training partners that help the women prepare for competition.

Dan Ryan (far right) has won one premiership and taken his team to two grand finals since becoming the Fever head coach in 2022. ( AAP: Joel Carrett )

Yet there is growing frustration from the men's and mixed netball community regarding the sudden drop off in support and recognition at the top level.

Despite making a valuable contribution to the Diamonds pathway, progress made under the previous administration of Kelly Ryan appears to have been scaled back and unexplained.

In December 2020, the State of the Game Review identified the need to embrace diversity and align with existing organisations not currently governed by Netball Australia, such as the Australian Men's and Mixed Netball Association (AMMNA), in order to increase reach and chances of funding via sponsors and government grants.

Then in 2021, Netball Australia launched its joint Brisbane 2032 Olympic bid, and the former chief executive acknowledged it had a lot of work to do regarding gender equality.

Gerard Murphy won the AMMNA Championships this year coaching the Victorian Men's Open side and is now eyeing off a Super Netball title with the Mavericks. ( Getty: Kelly Defina )

Boys and men's make up the fastest growing participation in netball and member organisations have responded by launching M-Leagues and adding male divisions to their state tournaments.

"We are really fortunate that we have a really strong contingent of men and boys already playing the game," then-CEO Ryan told ABC Sport, "so this is an amazing opportunity for us to wrap our arms around that participation base and make sure they feel included in netball more holistically.

"Whether it's for the Olympics or not for the Olympics, it is something that is firmly in our sights to do anyway. We want boys to come through and feel like [they have] got an opportunity to play netball just like their mothers and sisters.

"In 10 years' time, I'd like to think we will be a lot more progressed at better including men and boys in our sport."

Although back then Ryan would not confirm whether the bid would be pitching a women's and men's event or potentially even a mixed category, she made it clear that in order to convince the IOC it was worthy, it had to make a genuine effort to publicly support men's netball.

By 2022, new ground was broken between the Diamonds and Kelpies national teams. Double headers were playe…