The West Coast Fever are counting on Simone Hansen to lead the Super Netball franchise into a fresh new chapter following last year’s disastrous salary cap findings.
Hansen was unveiled as Netball WA’s new chief executive on Wednesday, and one of her major tasks will be to regain the trust of the Fever faithful following the darkest period in the club’s history.
The Fever were fined $300,000 and were stripped of 12 competition points for the upcoming season after it was discovered late last year that they had committed serious and deliberate salary cap breaches over the course of two seasons.
The Fever made payments of $127,954 above the cap in 2018, and they were 25.3 per cent over the salary ceiling in 2019 when it was discovered they had spent $168,659 above the cap.
Netball WA chief executive Simon Taylor and president Deane Pieters quit last year, but the club has refused to reveal whether the duo were involved in the salary cap breaches.
Hansen will take up her new role on April 6, and brings to the organisation almost two decades of senior leadership experience, having held key executive positions in the banking and finance sector across Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.
She is also a member of the Western Australian Football Commission’s Women in Football Advisory Committee, and a Non-Executive Director of the Australian Institute of Management WA.
“It’s a great privilege to be appointed to lead Netball WA, and to be able to drive the ongoing growth and development of a sport that I’ve had a lifelong connection with – first as a player in my youth, and now as a supporter watching my daughter play in both the winter and spring netball seasons,” Hansen said.
Hansen’s arrival follows the recent appointments of former Fever coach Sue Gaudion into the role of Fever’s general manager of pathways and performance, and Suzanne Ardagh as chair of the Fever board.
Garry Chandler had been in the role of acting chief executive over the past six months, and will now return to his position of general manager of people and culture.
The 12-point deduction for the 2021 netball season equates to three wins, meaning the Fever face an uphill battle to make the finals despite their star-studded squad.