Ali Williams

Well, yes, and that's always been netball's problem, right? For the last decade, we've known that this sport has needed to make changes, and the people in the governance positions just haven't been able to let go of netball's traditions and values.

I'm sure that Ali Williams and Aaron Mowbray wanted to come in and revitalise the sport.

They probably really wanted to change the game up a lot, and the people running netball maybe didn't want to see that, not only... relinquish control, obviously, but also wanting to keep netball as netball.

The reality is netball isn't making money.

What do you think?

Yes, it could be.

But the problem with this is it's just PR 101, right? All we've got to go on right now is what Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray are telling us.

And your excellent interview with Ali Williams a few minutes ago gave us a lot of detail, but not all the fine detail about what was in that proposal.

The future of the domestic netball competition is once again up in the air.

Netball New Zealand has announced today that the private league being created by Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray will not move forward.

The Richelister couple signed an agreement eight weeks ago to develop a replacement for the ANZ Championship.

They were blindsided, they say, by the announcement which came to them yesterday.

Ali Williams, former All Black, is with us right now.

Hey, Ali.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for coming in.

Netball New Zealand has said no thank you to the enormous amounts of money the Mowbrays were going to put into saving Netball's domestic competition.

And they didn't apparently even have the courtesy of calling Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams, at least according to the couple.

They just sent an email at night.

The couple say that they're blindsided and they are devastated.

The New Zealand Netball Players Association says it's been blindsided by the decision to pull the pin on plans for a new domestic league, warning the uncertainty is taking a toll on players.

Netball New Zealand confirmed today its ended talks with investors Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams over a proposal to privatise the competition.

It's understood the decision was made at a Netball New Zealand board meeting on Wednesday, again throwing the future of next year's domestic competition up in the air.

Players Association head Pippa Moore says the athletes are devastated by the news.

People have been holding out, haven't they, for this.

I've been waiting to hear and then we deliver the good news that someone's coming in to save the day and now that's just been ripped away from them.

In a statement to RNZ, Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams say they're also devastated by Netball New Zealand's decision.

They say they put their time, money and hearts into the proposal.

In sport, the New Zealand Netball Players Association says it's been blindsided by the decision to pull the pin on plans for a new domestic league.

Netball NZ announced on Friday it's abandoned plans for a privately run competition with investors Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams, leaving the future of the domestic league in doubt.

Players Association boss Pippa Moore says she was aware there had been some sticking points between the two parties.

We were never given the impression from either party that these issues couldn't be solved and that there was a risk that it would fall over.

You know, we were two months ago, you know, really happy to see...

Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray get into discussions with Netball New Zealand and sign a term sheet that, from my understanding, pretty much outlined the fundamentals of what an agreement going forward could look like.

And I know that they've been in discussions and negotiations over the last two months, but obviously they're too far apart to get any sort of agreement, and Network New Zealand have effectively pulled the pin on it.

So without knowing all the detail, yeah, I imagine it was a pretty tough decision that Network New Zealand had to make, and I feel for them because, you know, we all wanted this to happen, but at the end of the day, if it doesn't work for...

Into the chamber we go.

The news came through late this morning that Netball New Zealand have decided not to progress with the proposed privatisation of the domestic netball competition next year.

The proposal put forward by Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray.

The two have parted ways.

They got it when you want it at your night and day store.

Netball New Zealand has pulled out of the plans for a privately run domestic league only eight weeks after signing a term sheet with investors Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams.

It is understood the decision to abandon the proposal was made at a Netball New Zealand board meeting on Wednesday, throwing the future of next year's domestic competition up in the air once more.

Despite considerable efforts by both parties, the Netball New Zealand board has concluded that an agreement to license the privatization of its elite domestic netball competition with Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams cannot be reached.

Our communications with each other are confidential.

That was a statement from Netball New Zealand.

Everyone thought their billionaires are going to come in, they're going to be able to throw whatever money they want at it and fix the problem.

And clearly, Netball New Zealand doesn't think that is possible or is going to happen.

Dozens of netball players have been left in the lurch after plans for a privately run domestic league collapsed out of the blue.

Netball New Zealand pulled the pin on the deal with investors Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray.

It says its key objectives and principles had not been met, but due to confidentiality it won't give specifics.

The league was supposed to be up and running next year and the news has thrown the future of a domestic competition into question.

These were clearly communicated from the offset.

However, she says negotiations shifted.

And after two months of negotiations and communications with Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams, they were not able to reach an agreement.

Jenna Wooten says the decision not to grant a licence was not made lightly and giving players and staff clarity as quickly as possible was a top priority.

The rollercoaster for New Zealand's top netballers continues.

Eight weeks ago, it appeared the elite domestic league had been saved by a proposal from Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams to privatise the competition.

But today, RNZ revealed Netball New Zealand has abruptly pulled the pin on negotiations with a high-profile couple.

So what happens now and just how damaging is this latest twist for the future of elite netball in New Zealand? Sports editor Dana Johannsen broke the story and she joins us now.

But Netball New Zealand claims over time's negotiations, and I'm quoting here, shifted from those set out in the term sheet and ultimately it became clear that we would not be able to reach an agreement.

So they haven't stated exactly what those sticking points were and they say they won't be commenting specifically on the terms of the negotiations or how it concluded because citing confidentiality and then those talks.

Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams say they've been blindsided by the decision.

Kind of raises the question, is there going to be any legal fallout from this?