The Collingwood Magpies were an Australian professional

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

team in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

that competed in the premier domestic league,

Suncorp Super Netball The Super Netball League (known predominantly by its sponsored name Suncorp Group, Suncorp Super Netball (SSN)) is a professional netball league in Netball in Australia, Australia. It superseded the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship, which also inc ...

. The team was founded in 2016, during the disbanding of the

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

. The Magpies were owned by the professional

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

entity, the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

. The team's home games were predominantly played at John Cain Arena. In May 2023, news reports disclosed that the team was in financial distress, and later that month the Collingwood Football Club announced it would withdraw its netball team at the conclusion of the 2023 season.

History

Following the dissolution of the

trans-Tasman Trans-Tasman is an adjective used primarily to signify the relationship between Australia and New Zealand. The term refers to the Tasman Sea, which lies between the two countries. For example, ''trans-Tasman commerce'' refers to commerce betwee ...

competition in 2016,

Netball Australia Netball Australia is the main governing body for netball in Australia. It is affiliated to World Netball. It is responsible for organising and administering the Australia national netball team, Suncorp Super Netball, Australian National Netba ...

announced the creation of a new national netball league, which would feature the five original Australian teams and three additional teams. In May 2016, Netball Australia confirmed that the

was one of three preferred license holders for the new teams. Collingwood Magpies Netball was launched in September 2016 at the headquarters of the Collingwood Football Club, the

Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre (originally known as the Swimming and Diving Stadium and now known commercially as the AIA Vitality Centre) is a sports administration and training facility located in the Melbourne Sports and Ente ...

. The new team had a distinct logo, different from the football team, though a few years later the club elected to unify the logo with the football team. Speaking at the launch, club president

Eddie McGuire Edward Joseph McGuire (born 29 October 1964) is an Australian television and radio presenter, journalist, Australian Football League commentator and former TV executive. He is also an occasional ''Herald Sun'' newspaper columnist. He hosted C ...

stated, "This team is not an add on to our ootballprogram by any stretch. It has its own identity, its own high performance unit in its own right and our strategy is to get the best people and best players possible."

2017–20: Early years

The Magpies debuted in the 2017 Super Netball season. For the inaugural season, Madi Browne was appointed team captain under head coach Kristy Keppich-Birrell. The Magpies entered the league with a star-studded squad of former and existing Australia national team players, thanks mainly due to significant financial weight backing the team. Consequently, the Magpies were widely tipped by pundits to win the league. However, the team finished the regular season fourth (out of eight teams) on the ladder and lost their elimination final to

Giants Netball Giants Netball (stylised as GIANTS Netball) are an Australian professional netball team based in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. The team was formed in 2016 as a joint venture bet ...

by one goal. In the following season the Magpies struggled for wins and consistency. Prominent defender

Sharni Layton Sharni Norder (née Layton; born 6 January 1988) is a retired Australian sportsperson, known for her top level careers in netball and Australian rules football. Over fifteen years Norder played for six netball clubs in multiple elite competitions ...

announced her retirement and the club elected not to extend the contract of coach Kristy Keppich-Birrell, replacing her with former Swifts coach Rob Wright at the end of the season. Wright oversaw the signing of new players Kelsey Browne and

Geva Mentor Geva Kate Mentor CBE (born 17 September 1984) is a former England netball international and current Netball Super League player for Leeds Rhinos Netball. She has competed for England in six Commonwealth Games, winning a historic gold medal a ...

among others, and the Magpies returned to finals, though were defeated by local rivals the Vixens in the elimination final. The following year the Magpies won only one of their fourteen games in the COVID-19-impacted season. Co-captain Madi Browne departed from the club and Rob Wright's tenure as coach ended. Wright was replaced by former Diamond and Magpies assistant Nicole Richardson as the new head coach.

2023: Financial distress and notice of withdrawal

Facing just three finals appearances from seven years in the league, the club's performance both financially and on the court came under intense scrutiny during the month of May, culminating in the club's announcement to fold the netball team. Netball Australia promptly announced it would be negotiating with interested parties for the eighth licence for a 2024–26 window. Collingwood CEO

Craig Kelly Craig Kelly (born 29 September 1963) is an Australian conservative politician who represented the division of Hughes as a Liberal Party (and later United Australia Party) MP from 2010 until his defeat at the 2022 federal election. Kelly in ...

blamed financial difficulties faced by Netball Australia and the lack of a league-wide collective player agreement and team participation agreement for the 2024 season as the reasons for the withdrawal. The club played its final match on 17 June 2023 at the

Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, the fi ...

in Launceston, and defeated the league's reigning premiers

West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is a professional Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Pert ...

by three goals in a game that doubled as the final domestic appearance for club stalwart Ashleigh Brazill.

Franchise

Venues

The Magpies' primary home court was the 10,500-capacity John Cain Arena. The club also played one or two home games a year at the

in Launceston as part of an agreement with the government of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. Throughout its time in the league, the Magpies also played some home matches at

Margaret Court Arena Margaret Court Arena is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue located in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena, which was built in 1987 and redeveloped in the mid-2010s, has a capacity of 7,500. It is named after ...

and Bendigo Stadium.

List of captains

Collingwood's inaugural captain was Madison Browne, who led the team to a finals place in the inaugural season. The club became the first in the league's history to appoint co-captains, when English international

was appointed alongside Browne in 2019. *

Madison Browne Madison “Madi” Browne (born 5 January 1988) is an Australian netball player who has been one of the most successful Australian Netball players. Early life Madison Browne played for South Barwon Football and Netball Club when she was young ...

(2017–2020) *

(2019–2023) * Ashleigh Brazill (2022–2023)

Final roster

Competitive record

Reserve team

For the majority of the Collingwood Magpies' existence, the Tasmanian Magpies acted as its

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, holding an affiliation with the club from 2017 to 2020. The Tasmanian Magpies played in the Australian Netball League (ANL), the national second-tier netball competition, and were champions in 2018. Following the collapse of the ANL due to cancellations caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Collingwood announced it would field its own reserves team, also known as the Collingwood Magpies, in the new Australian Netball Championships, which were first held in

Traralgon Traralgon ( , ) is a city located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia and the most populous city in the City of Latrobe and the region. The urban population of Traralgon at the ...

in August 2022.

Honours

Club achievements

* Premierships (0): Nil * Minor Premierships (0): Nil * Pre-Season Premierships (1):

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

* Australian Netball Championships (2): 2018, 2023 * Netball New Zealand Super Club Titles (1):

Best and fairest awards

References

External links

Official website
{{Collingwood Football Club Sports clubs and teams established in 2017 2017 establishments in Australia Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 2023 2023 disestablishments in Australia Collingwood Football Club Suncorp Super Netball teams Coll Sport in the City of Melbourne (LGA)