Davu cleared to play

Netball New Zealand today announced Vilimaina Davu has been cleared to play for the LG Mystics in the 2008 ANZ Championship.

Davu, 31 who was a player-coach for Fiji at the 2007 Netball World Championships has been approved as the second ineligible player for the LG Mystics. The LG Mystics already have one ineligible player - Auckland-based Samoan goal-shoot Cathrine Latu.

The initial application for Davu was declined in January based on the most recent assessment of Vilimaina’s performance at the November World Championships.

Davu, has now been on a training programme for 4 months and the LG Mystics believed her performances were now at a standard which set her apart from other NZ eligible players and have now provided NNZ with an opportunity to review Davu’s performance. After having re-assessed Davu’s performance this week Netball New Zealand is now able to approve Davu as the second ineligible player for the LG Mystics team.

Netball New Zealand Chief Executive Raelene Castle says we were pleased to be able to work with the LG Mystics through this difficult process and the LG Mystics can now focus on the task of preparing for the start of the competition.

“The ANZ Championship is a new semi-professional competition which will inevitably change the netball landscape on both sides of the Tasman. However, Netball New Zealand has a responsibility to ensure there are as many opportunities for NZ eligible players to develop into Silver Ferns in the future and the eligibility rules are in place for that reason”, she said.

LG Mystics CEO Mark Cameron says we are very pleased with this outcome and thanked NNZ for their efforts throughout the process. We now look forward to a successful inaugural season in the ANZ Championship.