Melbourne Mavericks

Melbourne Mavericks is an Australian professional netball team set to compete in Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) from the 2024 season. The club is operated by the Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) and is based in South-East Melbourne.

Melbourne Mavericks
Founded2023
Based inSouth-East Melbourne
Head coachTracey Neville
LeagueSuncorp Super Netball

The Mavericks hold the SSN license made vacant by the Collingwood Magpies, who withdrew from the league amid intense scrutiny over their performance both financially and on the court.[1]

History

Following the demise of the Collingwood Magpies, speculation circled as to who would be awarded the eighth license for the 2024 Suncorp Super Netball season and beyond. Submissions for the new license closed on 20 June 2023, with as many as six initial bids being whittled down to two by the closing date, according to media reports.[2]

On 21 July 2023, the league announced that the Sports Entertainment Network (SEN), led by chief executive Craig Hutchison, was awarded the license for a team to be based in south-east Melbourne. As part of the licensing agreement, Netball Australia will operate the team for the rest of 2023 before transitioning to SEN for 2024 and beyond.[3] ABC News reported that the SEN bid was preferred by broadcasters Fox Netball over the alternate bid put forward by Netball Victoria, which suggested a regional team 'floating' between Geelong, Bendigo or Ballarat.[2]

On 2 August 2023, decorated English netball coach Tracey Neville was announced as the inaugural head coach of the then-unnamed Mavericks.[4]

Identity

The identity of the Mavericks was officially announced by netball operations general manager Shae Bolton-Brown on 20 September 2023, with the club's name, logo and primary colours—sky blue, 'pacific cyan' and sapphire—revealed after months of speculation.[5]

References
  1. "'Incredibly difficult': AFL giants quit Super Netball". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  2. Carter, Brittany (2023-07-21). "Craig Hutchison wins bid for eighth Super Netball team". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  3. "Eighth Licence Awarded". Suncorp Super Netball. 2023-07-21. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  4. "Decorated coach to lead newest team". Suncorp Super Netball. 2023-08-02. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  5. "SEN unveils the Melbourne Mavericks - a game-changing new netball brand". Sports Entertainment Network. 2023-09-20. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
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