Counties Manukau Cometz, are a former New Zealand netball team that were based in

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area fo ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Cometz represented the Counties Manukau/

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an area in South East England that extends along the River Thames west of London towards Oxford. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub on the M4 corridor, with a high concentration of technology companies ...

regions of

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

and, as a result, were also known as CMTV Cometz. Between 1998 and 2003, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league.

History

Inaugural season

In 1998, together with Auckland Diamonds, Bay of Plenty Magic, Capital Shakers,

Canterbury Flames Canterbury Flames were a New Zealand netball team based in Christchurch, Canterbury. Between 1998 and 2007 they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2000 and 2002, Flames played in three successive grand finals. In 20 ...

, Northern Force, Otago Rebels, Waikato Wildcats,

Southern Sting Southern Sting are a former New Zealand netball team that were based in Invercargill. Between 1998 and 2007, Sting played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. They were the league's most successful team. They played in all ten grand ...

and Western Flyers, Cometz were founding members of the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Cometz represented the Counties Manukau/

regions of

and, as a result, were also known as CMTV Cometz. Their first head coach was future

New Zealand national netball team The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns ( or ), represent Netball New Zealand in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Netball at the Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Games, the ...

head coach

Ruth Aitken Dame Ruth Ellina Aitken (née Fathers; born 31 July 1956) is a New Zealand former international-level netball player and former head coach of the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns. Biography Aitken was born in 1956 in Paeroa ...

Six seasons

Between 1998 and 2003, Cometz played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Together with Auckland Diamonds and Northern Force, Cometz were one of three teams from the

Auckland Region Auckland () is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban areas of New Zealand, urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland, Auckland metropolitan area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands o ...

to play in the league. Due to poor ticket sales, the three teams faced early suggestions that they should merge. Cometz also found themselves competing for players against Diamonds, Force and

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic are a New Zealand netball team based in Hamilton. The team were formed in 1998, following the merger of Waikato Wildcats and Bay of Plenty Magic. In 1997, Wildcats and Magic had been founder members of the Coca-Col ...

. Cometz enjoyed a local rivalry with Diamonds. In the six seasons the teams played against each other, Diamonds won four and Cometz won two.

Demise

After losing 80–29 to

in a 2003 Round 1 match, Cometz began to face calls for them to drop out of the league. In May 2003, following an independent report on the league by

Price Waterhouse Coopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along ...

Netball New Zealand Netball New Zealand is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in New Zealand, including the Silver Ferns. In 2019, 137,713 players were registered with Netball New Zealand, the governing body for organised netball in th ...

confirmed that Cometz would be dropped from the league.

Legacy

In 2017 the Comets name was revived when Northern Comets began competing in the National Netball League. Comets are effectively the reserve team of

Northern Stars Northern Stars are a New Zealand netball team based in South Auckland. Since 2017 they have competed in the ANZ Premiership. The team was named after the Matariki star cluster which is also featured on the team's logo. They were grand finalist ...

, who represent

in the

ANZ Premiership The ANZ Premiership is the top level netball league featuring teams from New Zealand. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from Australia, as the top level netball league in New Zealand. It is organised by Netbal ...

. During the

2022 ANZ Premiership season The 2022 ANZ Premiership season was the sixth season of Netball New Zealand's ANZ Premiership. With a team coached by Yvette McCausland-Durie, co-captained by Kelly Jury and Tiana Metuarau and featuring Aliyah Dunn, Erikana Pedersen and Whitn ...

, Stars paid tribute to Counties Manukau Cometz by wearing a replica of their famous dress during their Heritage Round match against

Home venues

Cometz played the majority of their home matches at

's Allan Brewster Stadium.

Notable former players

Internationals

; *

Temepara George Temepara Anne Bailey (formerly Clark, née George; born 23 October 1975 in Auckland) is a New Zealand international netball player of Samoan and Māori descent. She was a member of the Silver Ferns national squad in 1996, and from 2000–2011 ...

* Carron Jerram * Gael Nagaiya * Ana Noovao * Lorna Suafoa ; * Lorna Suafoa ; * Ana Noovao

ANZ Premiership coaches

Yvette McCausland-Durie Yvette McCausland-Durie is a netball in New Zealand, New Zealand netball coach and former netball player. As a player, she played for Western Flyers during the National Bank Cup era and represented New Zealand national netball team, New Zealand ...

* Mary-Jane Araroa

Others

Cushla Lichtwark Cushla Myra Arama Lichtwark (born 29 November 1980) is a New Zealand netball player and a former footballer. Career She played netball in the ANZ Championship for the Central Pulse since the inaugural season of the Wellington-based in 2008, and ...

, New Zealand women's football international

Captains

Coaches

Head coaches

Assistant coaches

References

{{NationalBankCupTrophyTeams Defunct netball teams in New Zealand National Bank Cup teams Netball teams in Auckland Sports clubs and teams established in 1998 1998 establishments in New Zealand Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 2003 2003 disestablishments in New Zealand