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This paper examines the operation of a network governance experiment that accompanied political and policy responses to an economic shock in an Australian provincial city. The economic shock was precipitated by the closure of a steelworks operation, wiping out a significant base of employment in the city. Challenges to the operation of network governance raised in the study relate to: asymmetries of information, capabilities, resources and power; political agendas by higher-tier governments; the diverse calls of interests and, not least, the tensions and indeterminacies of a liberal, market-oriented variety of capitalism. Implications for the development of network governance approaches are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]