Retaining players a key issue
Anne Marett has denied the beleaguered Mainland Tactix are in crisis.
As chairwoman of the Netball Mainland board, Marett, an accountant from Ashburton, is charged with the daunting mission of seeing the Tactix through one of the darkest periods of their history.
On Monday, Mainland Netball announced coach Sue Hawkins had resigned after a dreadful start to the ANZ Premiership competition, in which they had lost their first five games – including a humiliating 90-41 loss to the Southern Steel.
The official line is that Hawkins, who was contracted until the end of the 2018 season, wasn’t ordered to walk the plank.
Hawkins, who was only able to eke out three wins from 31 games since taking charge in 2015, has declined several requests for comment. Assistant Marianne Delaney-Hoshek will now coach the side for the remainder of the season.
Talk about a miserable autumn. A record loss, the coach making a fast exit, as well as passionate netball identities Marg Foster and Belinda Charteris firing a few shots about the way they perceive Netball Mainland has handled its duties.
Marett has few things to say, herself. Crisis? No way.
‘‘Absolutely not,’’ she said. ‘‘But we are keen to make changes, as required, to change our situation because we know we cannot stay at the bottom of the table.’’
Finding ways to apply the jumper leads to the ailing team is going to start with a brainstorming session.
Marett accepted it would be short-sighted to believe everything was going to be okay because Hawkins had left: ‘‘This change won’t fix our woes, alone. You can blame the coach, or whatever. What can we change that can make a difference?
The brainstorming session will involve all relevant stakeholders in the Tactix, including ex-players, being invited to have their say.
Marett denied Netball Mainland’s high performance programme wasn’t developing talent. She added the financial and business models were under control, noted they received good support from sponsors and Netball NZ, and had a lot of faith in Netball Mainland chief executive Brigit Hearn.
She was also satisfied that the game at grassroots level in Canterbury was in good shape. All the problems lie at the doorstep of the Tactix.
‘‘The only thing that is broken is our performance at the top level.’’
The biggest issue, clearly, is retaining talented players. Losing Bailey Mes to the Mystics and Mwai Kumwenda to the new Aussie league after last season was a major blow. Now, if there is the slightest hint that a key player is contemplating a move elsewhere, you would hope everyone involved with the Tactix would be scrambling to counter offers from other teams.
The exodus of Mes and Kumwenda wasn’t a reflection of Hawkins’ coaching style, said Marett. ‘‘I don’t think it was. And if it was I certainly don’t think it will be the only answer. I am sure there are multiple factors in this.
‘‘Why are players not staying? That is exactly what we are asking. We have to look at why they are not performing at Tactix level, and how we can retain them when they are performing.
‘‘Recruitment and retention at that top level is that key issue.’’
Asked if the Tactix couldn’t pay their players enough, Marett replied in the negative. ’’That is not the case. There is a limited amount in the pot for netball in New Zealand and no zone is particularly disadvantaged.’’
There is no magic bullet to fixing the issues, and Marett didn’t try to say there was. Mainland Netball, like everyone else who supports the Tactix, were extremely frustrated. Marett didn’t mention the word embarrassing, but you could say there is a bit of that too.
‘‘We won’t fix it overnight because we have to breed more players. Our Beko team, which underpins this one, is performing very, very well. We are very confident it is going to happen, but we are running out of patience, too, I guess.’’