Australian-based T&T women's national team netball standout Samantha Wallace says she welcomes the challenge set down by the Suncorp Super Netball League (SSNL) with the introduction of the two-goal 'Super Shot'
On Tuesday, the SSNL announced the 2020 league season will feature the addition of the two-goal Super Shot, an exciting new addition to the shooting circle.
Suncorp Super Netball CEO Chris Symington said the Super Shot will add an element of thrill to the matches.
“Our statistical analysis of the first three seasons found that close to 90% of goals scored during Suncorp Super Netball matches were within three metres of the goal post. We know that the long shot is statistically more challenging, but the game has always been predicated on the ability for our shooters to score from anywhere in the circle,” he said.
In introducing the new incentive for shooters in the semi-circle, the SSNL said it continues to evolve the game of netball with the two-goal shots commencing when the league gets going on August, 1.
The release noted that the decision follows several years of debate and joins rolling substitutions and extra-time as new features of the 2020 season.
The Super Shot will provide goal attacks and goal shooters the opportunity to score two goals by shooting from a 1.9m designated zone within the goal circle and will be active in the final five minutes of each quarter, providing a blend of the traditional game with the new.
Commenting on the decision to introduce the two-goal shot the 26-year-old Toco-born Wallace was quick to admit that the players were left in the dark about the decision to introduce the new incentive.
She said, "To be honest we had no say in regards to this two-points shot. None of the coaches or teams had any say in the decision-making process, and we didn't even know this was happening until the announcement was made.
"Looking at the pros and cons of it, the cons include the fans not being too receptive to it and if they continue with it for the 2021 season maybe we will see a reduction in crowd support, membership and which will have the league officials rethinking the decision to implement it," added Wallace.
On the positive side, Wallace who ended as the second-best scorer in the league last season with 648 goals from 695 attempts for the second spot behind Jamaican Jhaniele Fowler 709/753, and led the Swifts to the title said personally she had no problem with the two-goals shot being introduced.
She explained, "For me, it's not a problem and I don't mind one bit, because I can shoot from anywhere in the semi-circle as I have done in the past.
"I will just need to adjust myself in training by putting in more practice with the long shots to implement it in games regularly now during the final five minutes of each quarter, so having clock awareness will be key," said Wallace, the winner of the “Player of the Year” in the English Vitality Netball Super League in 2016, before moving to the Swifts where she has a three-year goals tally of 1,580 goals from 1,739 attempts, to be ranked among the top five players all-time.
In general, the league's decision to introduce the two-goal Super Shot just six weeks before the start of the new season has been criticised by players, including Wallace's Swifts' team-mate and England shooter Helen Housby who when speaking to bbc.com said there had been "zero consultation with any of the players or clubs", and that "it goes against what the overwhelming majority wanted."
But the T&T international feels otherwise saying, "I don't think it's a bad idea or should be big of a deal because it will provide teams who are losing a match with a chance to catch up by scoring their two-goals attempts, making a one-sided encounter much more interesting."
Since its inception, the SSN has actively embraced innovation within the game, adding the bonus point system, a rule which, last year, took the determination of the top four-placed teams down to the final seconds of the home and away season.
The Super Shot is one of three new rules being introduced for the 2020 season, joining a new extra time rule and rolling substitutions.
If scores are tied at the end of the match, teams will play five minutes of extra time and the Super Shot will be active for this entire five minutes.
Rolling substitutions, which allows teams to make as many substitutions as they like without stopping the match, should also see an added level of team tactics and more games where the entire bench gets court time.