Australian netball stars Jo Weston and Sophie Dwyer have broken their off-season silence, addressing the Diamonds' dress controversy, the history-making Commonwealth Games disappointment and the scale of change at the Melbourne Vixens, as Super Netball confirmed its 2027 season will tip off on April 10 with a match between the Vixens and the Mavericks.

Dressgate, Asics and a new-look Diamonds uniform

The Diamonds' appearance at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games generated as much conversation about their uniforms as it did about the netball itself. Social media lit up with complaints that the team's dresses appeared ill-fitting and rode up during matches, a saga that quickly became known in some circles as "Dressgate".

When new apparel partner Asics came on board, the company enlisted Weston and teammate Jamie-Lee Price to help shape the replacement design. Dwyer, who is sponsored by Asics, said the finished product has been warmly received by the players.

"The Asics dress is amazing and I know Jamie has done a little tester and jumped around and all that," Dwyer said.

Price recently posted a video to Instagram playfully "testing" the new dress to ward off what she called "Dressgate 2.0", a lighthearted callback to a similar video she made in Glasgow showing "the dress that was getting more attention than the netball".

Weston, who is currently on a remote holiday in a Mexican mountain village, described the collaborative design process as enjoyable despite the awkward circumstances that prompted it.

"It was such a fun collaboration, especially with Jamie who's such a fashionista," Weston said. "That was a sticky situation and everyone was talking about it, but as an athlete, you were there to represent your country, and Valour had done such an amazing job with the uniform, so you are not wanting to be like 'oh, it doesn't quite fit as expected'. But, if people are talking about netball, then I'm not opposed to that."

Dwyer echoed that sentiment, noting the players largely kept their composure through the controversy. "We didn't buy into the stuff too much, and I think the girls made all the TikToks and funny dances to get some more eyeballs on netball," she said.

A historic Commonwealth Games exit

The uniform furore was not the only difficult storyline from Glasgow. Australia failed to reach the Commonwealth Games gold medal match for the first time, a result that stung for the entire squad. Weston was among those in the Diamonds team that suffered that semi-final loss, marking a painful chapter in the program's otherwise dominant history at the Games.

Weston's off-season break means she was absent for the Constellation Cup opener against New Zealand on Sunday, a match Australia lost.

Vixens overhaul and the New Zealand exodus

Back at club level, Weston returns to a Vixens side that looks dramatically different from the one that fell to the Adelaide Thunderbirds in last year's grand final. The club has turned over half its roster, headlined by the arrivals of New Zealand internationals Carys Stythe, Amelia Walmsley and Mila Reuelu-Buchanan.

The influx of Silver Ferns talent is a direct consequence of the financial crisis that engulfed New Zealand's ANZ Premiership, which posted a $3.7 million loss and lost its broadcast deal, leaving the competition's future in serious doubt. A rescue plan for the league was eventually announced, but by then many of the country's top players had already signed with Super Netball clubs, in some cases displacing local athletes.

Weston acknowledged the sheer scope of the rebuild may catch some observers off guard.

"People probably didn't predict how big the change-up would be, with 50 per cent of our team being new," she said. "It's an interesting position for me and Kate Moloney, our captain, who have been in the team for a long time, as there is a bit of the unknown until we start training together, but I think it will give us a dimension we might not have had."

With the 2027 Super Netball season opener now locked in for April 10, fans will not have long to wait to see how Melbourne's revamped roster takes shape on court.