New Zealand men's national netball team
Men's national netball team
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The New Zealand men's national netball team, nicknamed the Net Blacks and also referred to as New Zealand Men or Aotearoa Men, represents the New Zealand Men's and Mixed Netball Association in international men's netball competitions, including the Trans-Tasman Cup, played against Australia, and the Men's Fast5 Netball World Series. During the 2020s, Trans-Tasman Cup matches have acted a curtain raisers for Constellation Cup matches, while the Men's Fast5 Netball World Series' have been played alongside the women's series. New Zealand Men have also played in the Cadbury Netball Series against New Zealand Women and other women's and mixed teams.
| National federation | New Zealand Men's and Mixed Netball Association | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Coach | Denins Napara | ||
| Nickname | Net Blacks | ||
| |||
Early matches, tournaments
Since 1985, New Zealand and Australia Men have played each other in a Trans Tasman series. The series has featured both open and under-23 tournaments. In 2002 the Australian International Men's and Mixed Netball Association began organising its own Australian Championships for men's and mixed teams. The 2003 Australian Championships saw New Zealand entering a team in the Open Mens Division and going on to win the title. New Zealand also entered a team in 2004.[1][2]
Tournament history
Cadbury Netball Series
As part of their preparations for the 2019 Netball World Cup, Noeline Taurua, head coach of the New Zealand Women, arranged for her team to play in the 2019 Cadbury Netball Series. This series featured a New Zealand men's invitational team, Fiji Women and an ANZ Premiership All Stars select. The New Zealand Men had previously trained with and played against the New Zealand Women behind closed doors. However, this series saw the men's team make their television debut.[3][4][5][6][7] On 26 June 2019, the New Zealand men's invitational team defeated Fiji Women 93–19 in their opening match of the series.[8] On 26 June 2019, New Zealand Men defeated New Zealand Women 54–50. This was the first match between the two teams that was broadcast live.[5][6][9] On 29 June 2019, the men's team won the 2019 series when they defeated the New Zealand Women 66–54 in the final.[10][11] New Zealand Women subsequently won two similar series in 2020 and 2021.[12][13] Ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, New Zealand Women again played New Zealand Men as part of their preparations. New Zealand Men subsequently won the series for a second time.[14]
Trans-Tasman Cup
Since 1985, New Zealand Men and Australia Men had played each other in a Trans Tasman series.[1] In the 2020s, on the back of the successful Cadbury Netball Series, these matches began to be televised. The 2022 Trans-Tasman Cup series acted as a curtain raiser for the 2022 Constellation Cup. On 12 October 2022, at Auckland's Spark Arena, Australia Men defeated New Zealand Men 64–48 in the first men's televised Trans-Tasman match.[23][24]
Men's Fast5 Netball World Series
Since 2022, New Zealand Men have played in the Men's Fast5 Netball World Series. New Zealand won the inaugural series after defeating Australia 29–25 in the final.[34]
Notable players
Head coaches
- Notes