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Netball Australia will enter a new era without one of its most influential figures after chief executive Kate Palmer announced she will be stepping down from her role.Palmer will leave the organisation on December 23 as the sport prepares for a new eight-team national competition Super Netball, starting in February.During Palmers 10-year reign, revenue has grown from $6 million to $26 million, with the game still the highest participation sport for women in Australia.Importantly, more of the countrys elite netballers can now become professional.Under the new collective bargaining agreement for the Super Netball competition, the average salary for netballers will rise from about $40,000 to $67,500, and the minimum wage more than doubles to $27,375.The new league also secured a five-year broadcast deal with Channel Nine and Telstra.Former Diamonds captain Liz Ellis saw first hand how influential Palmer had been in transforming the sport.Netball was always talked about as the sleeping giant, and in the last decade Kate Palmer has, using a process of gentle shaking and persuasive talking through to outright kicking, woken it, Ellis said.Under her leadership huge change has occurred.Most notably from my point of view, elite players have moved from being poorly recompensed and undervalued, to being some of the best paid and most highly valued female athletes in the country.Kate has never been afraid of change, and in fact has been a brilliant change agent for netball.Under Palmers watch, netball has seen the start and finish of the trans-Tasman Championship, as well as the move into Super Netball.The successful staging of the Fast5 event in Melbourne, and the continued growth of the mass participatn event Netfest on the Gold Coast have been other projects Palmer has been proud to oversee.One of the great challenges has been balancing the emphasis on high performance and winning milestone events, while also ensuring that every little girl in the country can play the game and be the best they can be, Palmer said.Its a sport that connects us and builds lifelong friendships, and thats ultimately whats important.Palmer advised the board several months ago that she intended to step down following her 10-year anniversary, which fell last week.Deputy chief executive Marne Fechner will step in as acting chief executive when Palmer steps down next month, with the board expected to make a permanent appointment early next year.Fake NHL Jerseys .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. 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Discount NHL Jerseys . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury. Custom NHL Jerseys .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem.With a talented quarterback and an impressive free agency we ask if the Jacksonville Jaguars are ready to make a push for the NFL play-offs.The NFL off-season is a great time to look ahead and assess the quality of each franchise and work out what would be considered a success for the upcoming season.This is no more relevant than in Jacksonville where owner Shahid Khan, who also owns Championship club Fulham, has stated that the Jags must be significantly better, and that a winning record is everybodys reasonable expectation at this point. The Jaguars have been rebuilding for the last three years, having drafted a quarterback and growing the team around him.With that in mind, Sky Sports takes a look at the reasons for optimism and realism for Jags fans.Free agent moves Super Bowl 50 winner Malik Jackson was an eye-catching addition in free agency The Jaguars were active early in free agency; they had to be. There were a number of holes to fill, particularly on their defence, which finished 24th in yards allowed last season.The marquee signing of Super Bowl winning defensive end Malik Jackson, as well as the arrival of Tashaun Gipson, Prince Amukamara and Kelvin Beachum, can help to shore up a team that has struggled to pressure opposition quarterbacks.On the offensive side of the ball, the Jaguars signed running back Chris Ivory from the Jets which gives them a powerful alternative to promising talent TJ Yeldon. Chris Ivory has swapped the Jets for the Jaguars However they did miss out on a couple of big splashes. Having offered a contract to Olivier Vernon, they were blown out of the water by the Giants, who landed the DE on a staggering $85m contract.The Jags are also still without a centre, with free agent Steven Wisniewski leaving for his hometown club Pittsburgh Steelers, and target Alex Mack signing with the Falcons. There is a little more work to be done, but another good draft and Jacksonville will feel happy going into training camp.Draft PicksWith the fifth overall pick in this yyears draft, the Jaguars have the opportunity to land a supreme talent.ddddddddddddThey will most likely keep focus on the defensive rebuild, with a huge array of talent on offer.Potentials include cornerback Jalen Ramsey, defensive end Joey Bosa, and linebacker Myles Jack. Jack, widely considered the most talented player available, missed the majority of last season with a serious knee injury and as a result, could fall to number five.After a strong free agency, aside from centre the Jags have no positions of absolute need, so have the freedom to select the best overall talent available. A franchise QB? Blake Bortles is starting to live up to his vast promise The Jaguars were a much improved offensive unit in 2015, and the maturation of Blake Bortles is a major factor behind that. Heading into his third year, Bortles is looking to top his 35-touchdown 2015 season, and must reduce the number of interceptions thrown to prove he can be an elite level QB.With another season under his belt to gel with the weapons around him, Bortles will be keen to kick on and prove himself among the most promising passers in the NFL.The loss of Wisniewski will be a blow to Bortles, who will play next season with his third different centre in three years. The trust between the two positions is integral to a successful offence, and it may be a case of drafting a top choice in the early rounds. A cautionary taleAround this time last year, Bortles was heralded as the best rookie QB of the year before, the Jags had added Pro Bowl tight end Julius Thomas, and went on to draft highly rated Dante Fowler Jr.A few months later, Fowler was out for the season, Thomas missed the first four games and the Jags finished up with another losing record (5-11).Although it all seems rosy for Jacksonville at this moment in time, it is worth considering that it is only April. If coach Gus Bradley can put all the pieces of the jigsaw together and have the team playing in September, then we can start to look at this team with a view to the play-offs. Also See:NFL VideoRookies guideNFL on Sky SportsPundits ' ' '