DERBY DAYS:It's not often rugby is overshadowed in televisual terms in the land of the All Blacks, but the netball rivalry between the Silver Ferns and the Aussie Diamonds has managed the unthinkable, writes Damian Cullen.
IT'S LIKE a sibling rivalry. Residents of Australia and New Zealand know each other so well they know exactly how to wind each other up - and losing to the other hurts, really badly.
And, of course, there's rarely a break from the other - in a political, cultural or sporting sense - and so familiarity has bred significant contempt.
Last weekend, Australia beat New Zealand, 30-6, in the opening round of the Rugby League World Cup in Sydney in front of 34,157 spectators, a match that generated more media interest than usual because it featured the Australian scrumhalf Johnathan Thurston, whose uncle had been violently killed hours earlier in Brisbane.
This Saturday the two nations clash once again in rugby union; the Bledisloe Cup Test, bizarrely, is to be played in Hong Kong.
But it is not just the Australian and New Zealand sportsmen that manage to spike interest in derby games in Oceania.
Last Sunday, in the 2008 Netball Test Series, the first of two meetings, New Zealand - or the Silver Ferns as they are known - had to come back from 15-7 down after the first quarter to defeat the world champions Australia, 46-41, in Melbourne.
With all the other sporting events in Australia this week - including the International Rules series and Adelaide United's appearance in the Asian Champions League final - it may surprise many that the netball game competed strongly for media space in both countries.
Last November, New Zealand hosted the 12th World Netball Championship, Australia beating the hosts and reigning champions (New Zealand had beaten Australia 49-47 in Jamaica in the 2003 decider) in Auckland in front of 7,000 spectators.
In a bruising decider, the pre-tournament favourites lived up to their billing and took the game 42-38, but the success was even more obvious off the court - the competition generating massive interest and revenue.
While netball is unfamiliar to many Europeans, in Australia and New Zealand its appeal can hardly be overstated. It's a game that's similar to basketball, but in the seven-a-side, strictly non-contact, netball game, players are confined to zones and can take only one step before releasing the ball.
Not only is netball the most popular sport for women in Australia, its playing numbers - one million nationwide - rival those of the other most popular sports regardless of gender.
Across the Tasman Sea, netball is also far and away the most popular women's sport.
The growing popularity of the code persuaded the netball unions of Australia and New Zealand to launch an elite club championship last April, which consisted of the top five teams from both nations.
For the first time, netball became a semi-professional sport; players in the new ANZ Championship are guaranteed a minimum €6,000 retainer, and the best players are expected to earn much more.
It is a huge first step on the road to full professionalism for the sport in both countries, and is very much dependent on viewing figures - not only in stadiums but also watching from home - continuing to grow.
The media in Australia and New Zealand were slow to warm to the idea of live coverage of netball, but - as has happened with women's sports in many codes - public interest forced them to increase coverage.
ABC found out just how many hardcore netball fans there were in Australia when, in October 2001, the station decided to leave their live coverage of a netball Test match between Australia and New Zealand, because the game was starting late, and switch to their scheduled programme, Something in the Air.
There certainly was something in the air. The decision by ABC to abandon the exciting game in the final minutes provoked an avalanche of calls from irate viewers, a chorus of criticism from the netball officials and players - and a hasty apology from the station.
Though ABC incurred the wrath of netball fans again last year when they announced the World Netball Championship decider on November 17th would not be live for viewers in New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania - but would be deferred to later in the evening.
The decision may have helped Network Ten - one of Australia's three major commercial television networks - to last summer secure the netball rights in Australia for the next four years, and so this weekend's clash will be shown on Ten, with the retired Western Bulldogs AFL player Luke Darcy heading the coverage.
In New Zealand the matches are live on TV One, and viewing figures will be astronomical.
Last September the Silver Ferns lost to Australia - who have recently decided on the nickname the Diamonds - in Christchurch on the same week as Australia and New Zealand met in the rugby Tri-Nations decider in Brisbane.
Astonishingly, in a country considered rugby mad, the television viewing figures for the netball game outrated those for the rugby clash - by over 100,000.
Since then, the media in Australia and New Zealand have needed no further convincing of the merits of giving the clashes the profile they deserve.
Netball had trounced rugby union, in New Zealand of all places.
Australia
v
New Zealand
Sunday, 2.10pm (local time)
Brisbane Entertainment Centre
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