Willering: NNZ should shoulder tap Taurua
Veteran coach and pundit Yvonne Willering has urged Netball New Zealand to shoulder tap Noeline Taurua for the Silver Ferns head coach position.
Taurua has been the name on everyone’s lips in the netball world since Janine Southby resigned as Ferns coach on Friday.
Southby’s resignation came after Netball New Zealand’s (NNZ) damning review into the Silver Ferns’ poor Commonwealth Games campaign which painted the picture of a leaderless culture and a squad that lacked faith in its coaching staff.
NNZ are now in a race against time to appoint their 11th head coach with a team naming scheduled for next month ahead of September’s Quad Series.
Taurua, who missed out on the position in 2015 after serving as an assistant coach, has emerged as the clear favourite to take over the national team. But committed to her second year coaching the Sunshine Coast Lightning in Australia’s Super Netball competition and a history of issues with NNZ officials, it appears the former Silver Fern is unlikely to apply for the job.
Willering believed Taurua would still be honoured to take over the national side, despite past issues, but said NNZ would need to be willing to make the approach.
“Noeline Taurua, she needs to be tapped on the shoulder,” Willering told Radio Sport Breakfast.
“Obviously the coach needs to come from within our country and really only Noeline Taurua is the one that comes to everyone’s mind.
“The people at NNZ have changed, so the people that made those decisions [in 2015] are no longer there, so I’d like to think while obviously she was hurt at the time, that whole scenario now is not there. But I think at the end of the day she’s always wanted to be the Silver Ferns coach and that’s a tremendous honour.”
Taurua holds a stellar coaching record in New Zealand, having led the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic to the former transtasman competition title before guiding the Southern Steel to an unbeaten season in 2016.
Then in her first year coaching in the Australian Super Netball competition, Taurua led the Sunshine Coast Lightning to the inaugural title in their debut season.
Even if Taurua, who is contracted with the Lightning until the end of 2019, is identified as the best candidate, she is unlikely to leave her championship-winning franchise until at least the end of the 2018 season.
Willering said the Ferns’ horror run of results could be an enticing challenge to lure the Commonwealth Games silver medallist back from across the ditch but also believed Taurua won’t consider taking the role without some negotiation.
“She’s set up in the Gold Coast, she’s taken some of her family over as well, and she has another year’s contract so she’s in the hot seat,” Willering said.
“I’m not saying a financial package, just that she’s going to make sure that it’s on her terms and I think that’s with management as well and also you’ll find there will be some selection changes within the playing 12.”