New Zealand netball team Northern Mystics have sparked great debate after unveiling a defensive innovation in their ANZ Championship victory against Melbourne Vixens at the weekend.
The Mystics defeated the Vixens by four goals, but only after defender Anna Harrison had been lifted by a teammate, much in the manner of a rugby union lineout, to block a number of shots.
The manoeuvre, immediatley named "the Harrison Hoist" has polarised sporting opinion on social networking sites, website message boards and radio talkback, some people proclaiming the tactic revolutionary while others say it represents cheating.
Netball rules do not prevent "goal tending" or the lifting of players so long as the lifted player does not interfere with the net or post, but fans have claimed this is an oversight on the part of the lawmakers.
Critics say that netball must introduce a goal tending rule similar to that in basketball, but former Australia captain Liz Ellis disagrees - describing the Harrison Hoist on Twitter as: "One of the best defensive plays ever."
"I think it was 1 spectacular 2 legal," the former Diamonds captain tweeted.
Ellis did, however, question whether the manoeuvre was in the spirit of the game.
ANZ Championship general manager Andrew Crook told the Sydney Morning Herald that the manoeuvre was "something that's been used before so it's an old skill but a difficult skill to master", while the New Zealand Herald quoted Dawn Jones, who chairs the international netball match officials panel, as saying "the issue of goal tending was raised two years ago, but no action was taken as it was decided the strategy does not give the defenders an unsporting advantage".
Ellis said in the Sydney Morning Herald "it's the type of thing that I would have loved to have done but was never quite good enough to do ... I can't tell you how excited I was to see it".
Crook said the game could use the manoeuvre, and the discussion it has sparked, to better market the game.
Mike Gibson and the team will discuss "the Harrison Hoist" on The Back Page on Fox Sports News (Channel 513) from 8pm (EST) on Tuesday, May 22.
