Australia’s netball stars took a dreamy European summer holiday together just weeks before losing a $15million sponsorship over a row of their sponsor’s logo.
Netball Australia is now facing an unprecedented funding crisis after mining billionaire Gina Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting on Saturday tore up its proposed deal, which was set to provide a ‘major boost’ to the sport and see players awarded a ‘generous wage increase’.
The move came after Diamonds goal shooter Donnell Wallam, who is Aboriginal, raised concerns about wearing the company’s logo on her dress, pointing to racist comments Mrs Rinehart’s father, Lang, made 38 years ago.
Despite her team mate’s support, and the team’s subsequent decision to wear the logo at her debut for the series against England, the company pulled the sponsorship and slammed the sportspeople for ‘virtue signalling’.
And it seems the Australian public’s support has largely fallen behind the mining billionaire, not the netballers. All ahead of another series against the English, which kicks off with a game at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre on Wednesday night.
Indigenous Australia Diamonds player Donnell Wallam is at the centre of a sponsorship axing saga between mining company Hancock Prospecting and Netball Australia. She is pictured on a recent holiday
Wallam is pictured in Italy alongside fellow netballers Kim Jenner (left) and Gabi Simpson (centre)
In a statement, the company said the sponsorship would have enabled players to receive pay rises otherwise not possible given Netball’s financial situation – after the organisation posted a $4.4million loss in 2021.
Now, photos have emerged showing Australia Diamonds including vice captain Steph Wood, Jamie-Lee Price, Ruby Bakewell-Doran, Jo Western and Wallam living it up overseas just weeks before the saga unfolded.
While the holiday was funded by the players themselves, not Netball Australia or their clubs, the Queensland Firebirds – who Wallam played for in 2022 – shared photos of their star athlete soaking up stunning sites in Italy after going on tour with the national team.
‘Hey Purple Fam,’ Wallam says in the post.
On September 21, the club said their ‘queen has been absolutely living’, before sharing an excerpt from her giving an update about her movements.
Wallam and Jenner are pictured enjoying drinks and a cheese platter on the balcony of an Italian hotel
Wallam poses for a photo at Monterosso Beach, Cinque Terre, in Italy,
Wallam and Simpson looked relaxed as they enjoyed a boat ride through Italy
Wallam posed up alongside the famous leaning tower of Pisa
‘After the SSN (Suncorp Super Netball) season I was fortunate enough to travel as a reserve player with the Aussie Diamonds in preparation for the Commonwealth Games which was an amazing experience!’
Wallam said after camp was finished she met up with fellow Firebird players Gabi Simpson and Kim Jenner at beachside Cinque Terre on the Italian coast for ‘the most amazing week ever’.
‘The food, drinks, view, just everything was [perfect emoji],’ the post continued.
‘We then spent a week in London which was a little more chill and the perfect way to wind down the overseas trip.’
The Australia Diamonds spectacularly won the country’s 1000th gold medal at the 2020 Birmingham Commonwealth games, which ran from July 28 to August 8, after beating Jamaica 55-51.
In the days that followed, members of the national team travelled around Europe sharing photos of nightclub outings, boat trips, cocktails, ocean swims and incredible vistas.
The Australia Diamonds pose for a photo in the UK as they attend the Birmingham Commonwealth games
Australia Diamonds Vice Captain Steph Wood (pictured right) went on holiday in Greece in August
Woods and her friends smile as they line up in nice outfits for a photo
Photos show the group holding up peace signs with their hands while quad bike riding in Los
Photos posted in late July show Wallam standing on a deck watching the sunset over the ocean and taking a dip in the ocean at Cinque Terre with Jenner and Simpson.
In other images, the group can be seen enjoying a cheese plater and drinks, soaking up the ocean views from their hotel balcony and embarking on a boat ride around Monterosso, in Liguria.
Meanwhile, from late August to early September, Weston jaunted between Portugal, France, Italy, and the UK, while Wood posted pictures around the same time of her quad bike riding with friends in Greece.
Bakewell-Doran spent her time off exploring Great Britain and Greece and swimming and boating in the Mediterranean Sea, while Price ventured through Venice and Barcelona, sunbaked in Cinque Terre, and sipped wine in Santorini.
It remains unclear whether the players’ holidays involved any Netball Australia business. Daily Mail Australia has approached the organisation for comment.
Just days after the oversea holidays, on September 28, Hancock Prospecting announced it would come to the rescue of Netball Australia by investing in the Diamonds until 2025.
Rinehart majority-owned mining company Roy Hill similarly announced a day earlier it would becoming principal partner for Netball Western Australia’s West Coast Fever, with the deal valued at $2million over four years.
Jamie-Lee Price (right) enjoys drinks with friends in Barcelona during her Europe Summer holiday
The holiday, which also included stops in Italy and Greece, featured boat trips and swims in the ocean
Price (pictured in the orange shirt) went on a scooter ride with friends in Barcelona
Last week, Wallam reportedly sought an exemption from wearing the company’s logo with the Player’s Association due to Hancock suggesting in 1984 some Aboriginals should be sterilised to ‘breed themselves out’.
Her request – which only pertained to the three England games – was knocked back and she agreed to wear the dress, but despite this, both companies days later announced the partnerships would be axed.
‘Hancock and Roy Hill do not wish to add to Netball’s disunity problems, and accordingly Hancock has advised Netball Australia… that it has withdrawn from its proposed funding partnership effective immediately,’ the company said in a statement.
‘Roy Hill, majority-owned by Hancock, will also be discontinuing its sponsorship arrangement with Netball WA… to be the principal partner of the West Coast Fever.’
The statement said ‘Hancock and Roy Hill were not made aware prior to the proposed partnerships, of the complexity of existing issues between Netball Australia and the Players Association’.
Ruby Bakewell-Doran is pictured visiting Lindos, on the Greek Island of Rhodes, on August 6
The travelled through Greece from early to mid August. She is pictured during a boat trip on her holiday
The netballer took a dip in the Mediterranean sea with a pink-donut inflatable
‘This includes the Players Association’s endeavours to gain a very substantial increase in wages during a time the sport is reeling financially, and unable to provide such an increase,’ it continued.
‘Hancock’s proposed sponsorship would have enabled a generous increase in wages for the players which would not have otherwise been possible given Netball’s financial situation.’
Wallam was reportedly left distressed and devastated by the bombshell decision, with Indigenous activists, including boxing legend Anthony Mundine and Senator Lidia Thorpe rallying to support her online.
Meanwhile, West Coast Fever CEO Simone Hansen on Tuesday said Australia’s elite netballers need to be better educated about the value of sponsorship after her club became ‘collateral damage’ in the fallout.
‘Our players and our playing group have been and remain 100 per cent behind the partnership that we had with Roy Hill,’ she told ABC Radio.
Donnell Wallam was reportedly left ‘devastated’ and ‘distressed’ after Rinehart’s companies pulled the plug on their sponsorship deals
Mrs Rinehart accused Netball Australia of ‘virtue signalling’ as she announced the partnership had been axed
‘I wish there was (other companies throwing money at netball). It is hard.
‘Money doesn’t grow on trees. We need to go out there and work hard and build relationships and get companies to understand the value of being involved in women’s sport and netball in particular – it’s not an easy task.’
Ms Hansen said female sport doesn’t have the same viewership or broadcast money as male sport therefore making sponsorship deals even harder to land.
‘Everyone needs to consider bringing money into sport isn’t easy – bringing sponsorship money into female sport is even harder,’ she said.
‘There are going to be consequences of this, everybody, not just the administration but the playing group need to understand that there are consequences when things like this play out in the media.
‘I think it’s going to be a more challenging landscape for netball, especially in the short term as we work through this.’
