Thursday, 18 June 2020:
Australia's only player in the professional New Zealand netball league is stranded in Sydney and doesn't know when she'll get clearance to travel.
Giants Netball shooter Georgia Marshall is contracted to Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in the ANZ Championship, the six-team Kiwi league which resumes on Friday three months after being shut down by COVID-19.
Marshall has been repeatedly declined clearance to cross the Tasman by New Zealand immigration officials.
Having played in round one before returning home to spend the lockdown period with her family, the 23-year-old has had four applications to re-enter turned down, each with no explanation.
Magic spokesperson Kate Fill-Wilson confirmed former Australian age-group player Marshall was exempt to travel as an Australian citizen working in New Zealand.
She would need to undergo 14 days quarantine upon arrival so was already ruled out of their next two games. It will become four games if she can't travel before Monday.
"It's bizarre because she's on the exempt list so we're are in the dark," Fill-Wilson told AAP. "Is she doing something wrong? Who are they letting in before her?"
"She's a contracted player who pays tax and is in a competition that's about to start. There's nothing we can do, other than get her to keep applying really."
Marshall, a Giants squad member for the last three seasons, is receiving video footage of Magic training sessions to stay in the loop.
The next five rounds of the competition will be played at the same Auckland venue, as had been scheduled during the lockdown.
New Zealand's loosening of its alert level means the last three rounds from late July onwards can be staged at the teams' home venues.
The final is scheduled for August 23.
