Men’s netball brought out from ‘behind closed doors’ in landmark series

“If you can see it, you can be it” is a maxim synonymous with women’s sport.

But the 12 men representing Australia in netball in a history-making trans-Tasman series starting this week hope to co-opt the inspirational expression as they bring the male game out from “behind closed doors”.

In a first, the four-game Constellation Cup series between Australia and New Zealand’s female teams will feature two televised curtain-raisers between the nations’ men’s sides.

The first match of the series in Auckland on Wednesday and the third, at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena on October 19, will see the men play before the world champion Silver Ferns take on the Commonwealth gold medal-winning Diamonds.

The men will play a third standalone game in Auckland on October 14, while the women will play another Test in Tauranga on October 16 and on the Gold Coast on October 23.

While international netball remains sanctioned for women only by World Netball – meaning the Australian men aren’t allowed to wear the coat of arms on their uniforms – an agreement between the women’s and men’s governing bodies on both sides of the Tasman has seen the landmark series become a reality.

The build-up has included the men’s team and support staff attend the Diamonds’ training camp at the AIS in Canberra before the teams flew to New Zealand together. Australian captain Dylan Nexhip says these moves are groundbreaking.

“A joint tour to this extent has never happened in the history of our sport so to say it’s super exciting is an understatement. It’s huge, something many of us didn’t even dare dream about,” Nexhip, a teacher who hails from the regional Victorian town of Tongala and now lives in Sydney, says.

The landmark tournament will be followed by a