THE RISE OF PRO GAME

QHow have you seen the development of pro netball over the last few years with the progress of the ANZ championship and Suncorp Super Netball?

AI think the trans-Tasman competition paved the way in terms of corporate support and media, especially here in Australia to showcase netball. We have always been very fortunate in NZ to have had every game played at national and international level televised since the late 1980s. The added excitement for the fans was seeing Kiwis v Aussies every weekend and not just in Test matches. The ending of the trans-Tasman has seen the Suncorp competition go to the next level with the introduction of unlimited imports etc and I believe it has grown the game internationally as we’ve seen England, South Africa and to a lesser extent Jamaica and Malawi benefit from competing week in week out with the best of the best.

QWhat was the challenge like to coach clubs at that elite level?

ACoaching presents the same challenges at any level. The toughest is finding the point of difference between your players and the opposition because everyone has the same level of support at high performance level, from assistant coaches, full-time team managers, physios, trainers etc. Having players as fulltime athletes allows a coach access to them pretty much all day, giving you the luxury of one-on-one time and daytime training sessions, which is not the case with coaches whose players are working or studying.