West Coast Fever have hit out at the Melbourne Vixens after the defending Super Netball champions "refused" to fly to Western Australia for Sunday's grand final rematch at RAC Arena.
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The match was called off on Friday after the Vixens opted against finding replacements for three star players who were denied an exemption to enter WA.
The Vixens travelled to Sydney for their round-seven match against Collingwood on June 12, with three players visiting northern NSW over the bye round last weekend before returning to the Queensland hub on Monday.
Those players are understood to be key trio Jo Weston, Emily Mannix, and Kate Moloney.
Despite players and staff not visiting any exposure site or being a close contact, the changing border restrictions into WA now stipulate that any travel from NSW in the last 14 days is a risk.
The Vixens declined to board the flight to Perth without their three "compromised" players.
It remains unclear whether the match will merely be rescheduled, or whether the Vixens will have to forfeit.
"West Coast Fever is extremely disappointed that Melbourne Vixens have refused to travel to Perth for our fixture at RAC Arena," the Fever said in a statement.
"This is not in the best interests of the competition and devastating for our club, members, sponsors and fans.
"We are awaiting a ruling from Netball Australia on what this means in regards to the result of the game."
The Vixens, who beat West Coast 66-64 in last year's grand final, are bottom of the ladder with just one win from seven games.
The Fever have won all seven of their games this season, but their three-match penalty for past salary cap breaches means they are fourth on the ladder.
Australian Associated Press
