The Mavericks hold the SSN license made vacant by the Collingwood Magpies, who folded and withdrew from the league at the conclusion of the 2023 season.[2]
History
Following the demise of the Collingwood Magpies, speculation circled as to who would be awarded the eighth license for the 2024 Suncorp Super Netball season and beyond. Submissions for the new license closed on 20 June 2023, with as many as six initial bids being whittled down to two by the closing date, according to media reports.[3]
On 21 July 2023, the league announced that the Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), led by chief executive Craig Hutchison, was awarded the license for a team to be based in south-east Melbourne. As part of the licensing agreement, Netball Australia will operate the team for the rest of 2023 before transitioning to SEG for 2024 and beyond.[4]ABC News reported that the SEG bid was preferred by broadcasters Fox Netball over the alternate bid put forward by Netball Victoria, which suggested a regional team 'floating' between Geelong, Bendigo or Ballarat.[3]
On 2 August 2023, decorated English netball coach Tracey Neville was announced as the inaugural head coach of the then-unnamed Mavericks.[5]
Location
The team was initially announced as being representative of 'south-east Melbourne' without a specific location named. In October 2023, SEG confirmed that the club's administration and training base would be located at the Waverley Netball Centre in Glen Waverley, Victoria.[6]
Identity
The identity of the Mavericks was officially announced by netball operations general manager Shae Bolton-Brown on 20 September 2023, with the club's name, logo and primary colours—sky blue, 'pacificcyan' and sapphire—revealed after months of speculation.[7]
