The new kids on the block have arrived.
Enter, the Melbourne Mavericks.
The Sports Entertainment Netball (SEN) revealed the name for the Suncorp Super Netball's eighth team on Wednesday, declaring the name was chosen to reflect the team’s drive to break boundaries.
The Mavericks' colours were also unveiled and include sky blue, pacific cyan and sapphire.
General Manager of Netball Operations for the Mavericks, Shae Bolton-Brown, said the club “strongly believes the Mavericks name reflects who we are as a team on the court, but also overall as a club.”
“We want to be bold and take the game in an exciting direction that appeals to existing and new netball fans.
“We are respectful but ambitious to do things our own way, united by admiration of our athletes’ skill and strength.”
Mavericks head coach Tracey Neville echoed those comments and started the name and overall brand “sells our story” to potential staff and players whom the club hopes to join the family
“The brand means business and so do we as a new franchise,” she said.
While Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan said the organisation was excited to welcome the Melbourne Mavericks to the Suncorp Super Netball League.
“The Mavericks will write a new chapter in the story of Suncorp Super Netball as it continues to go from strength to strength as the world’s best netball competition," she said.
“Today’s announcement gives fans a name to get behind and is the next step forward in getting the team ready for next season.”
Neville and Bolton-Brown addressed the media this morning with Bolton-Brown expressing their intent to capture fans in south east Victoria.
“We’re here to put our stake in the sand in the south east and want to attract all of those people there who want to get on board the Mavericks' train and come see netball a bit differently,” she said.
While Neville spoke to the type of players the team has set out to recruit.
"We have to think and behave in a different way to anyone else in the SSN and so do the players taking the next step in their journey. The players we want to attract want to do that with us, they’re established or like us on the fringe of being something great and the ‘Maverick’ word really sells that story,” she said.
