Courtney Bruce believes the new deal has left netball in a better place in Australia; You can watch all Vitality Nations Cup matches live on Sky Sports and all will be streamed on Sky Sports YouTube across 20-21 and 27-28 January
Thursday 18 January 2024 17:30, UK
Australia Diamonds' Courtney Bruce believes the new pay deal made with Netball Australia leaves the "bib in a better place" for future players.
A dispute between Netball Australia (NA) and Australian Netball Players Association (ANPA) over players' pay in the country's Super Netball professional league ended with a new three-year deal made in December.
The Collective Player Agreement (CPA) announced an 11 per cent increase in players' base salaries over three years and a 20 per cent revenue share for players above an agreed sponsorship forecast among other increased benefits.
Players in Australia's domestic netball league have not been paid since the expiry of their last contract with Netball Australia in September but will also receive back pay to October 1, NA and ANPA said in a joint statement.
The deal, agreed in principle earlier this month, was announced a day after former CEO Kelly Ryan resigned after a two-year tumultuous tenure during which NA faced financial stress and the prospect of losing government funding.
Bruce admitted that the dispute was "tough" for all players to work through but she is excited to see the game now grow from the deal that has been created.
"It was really tough and there were obviously players that had it a lot worse than some of us," Bruce told Sky Sports.
"It was a really, really stressful time and I know us as a Diamonds playing group and as a collective Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) playing group are happy to put it behind us now.
"We are really excited to be in our club lands and be back with the group. It was really tough but I guess there is a lot of healing and relationship-mending that is going on.
"I am just really excited to work collectively with Netball Australia and our sponsors to keep growing the SSN competition.
"It is definitely important to avoid (a similar situation in the future). I think as players we know what we bring to the game and we have got that really good connection now with Netball Australia and the SSN board to grow together.
"That was the most important thing for us, acknowledging what we bring to the game and how we can collectively make our sport one for the world to enjoy.
"I think the new agreement is fantastic. The one thing we always say in a Diamonds environment and it has followed into SSN is that you want to leave the bib in a better position when you leave the sport and I think this playing group has."
You can watch all Vitality Nations Cup matches live on Sky Sports and all will be streamed on Sky Sports YouTube across 20-21 and 27-28.
