Netball New Zealand’s call to stand down Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua has been met with shock and embarrassment by former players and coaches.
Yvette McCausland-Durie and Liana Leota will take control for the Taini Jamison series against South Africa starting Sunday week, with Taurua’s assistant Deb Fuller also on the outer.
The athletes are reportedly boycotting the coach due to Taurua’s “old school approaches”.
NNZ denied this when asked by Newstalk ZB, but failed to supply an alternate reason.
Former Silver Fern Margie Foster is outraged by the decision to remove the coaches.
“I’m very embarrassed for our sport. It’s an absolute blindside and I can’t even comprehend that the best netball coach we’ve ever had - who is a dame and World Cup-winning coach - could be treated this way with such disrespect.”
Foster said if the reports of a player boycott are true, it is a disgrace.
“If players refuse to play, they shouldn’t even be in this environment. You’re an athlete. Your job is to be selected on what attributes you bring to be a player. Are they wanting to be a coach or run a high performance programme?
“If they think it’s too hard or it’s old school coaching methods - which I doubt - then you know what? Go and do something else.”
Former Silver Ferns coach Yvonne Willering said the timing is bizarre.
“They’ve got a huge management group and - if it’s the players - they do lots of one-on-ones, they have a leadership group there. If there are issues, why were these not addressed after the last series when they were all together?”
Willering warned the reports might not represent the whole group.
“Often it’s only one or two people’s opinion and suddenly it becomes about the whole squad and management.”
Willering is often brought in as a specialist coach to lend a helping hand, and said she did not notice anything untoward when she was last in camp.
“I never came across anything. Any players that I met - no. I just can’t believe that suddenly this has come out.”
Foster is calling for NNZ to do everything possible to keep Taurua at the helm of the Silver Ferns.
“Noeline is a special coach. She has got innate ability. She’s just a godsend, to be honest. Her style and her coaching prowess - it speaks for itself.
“NNZ should wrap 100% support around Noels and make a stand for her programming and her planning and everything she is about. Let her be her.”
Foster admitted the biggest beneficiaries of New Zealand’s current drama will be arch-rivals Australia, with the Ferns due to defend the Constellation Cup next month.
“I think Australia will just be looking and quietly smiling. This would never happen in Australia. You look at Australia’s training and the way they run the Diamonds - that’s next level.”
A past player group dubbed The Fossils from the Silver Ferns’ 2019 World Cup triumph are shocked by the decision to sideline Dame Noeline Taurua.
Laura Langman shared a photo on social media describing the situation as “the saddest day in New Zealand netball history.”
That post has been re-posted by former captain Casey Kopua and Katrina Rore.
Former shooter Maria Folau added to Langman’s post with the caption - “what the heck is going on”.
NNZ board chair Matt Whineray refused to confirm why Taurua was stood down and did not say when or if she would return.
“We just have to keep going with these discussions and see if we can get there in terms of where we want the environment to be. Once we understand that, then we’ll see where we go.
“We’ve had some issues that we haven’t been able to resolve to everybody’s satisfaction, so what we’ve done for the Taini Jamison series is stood Dame Noeline down.
“They’re just issues related to the environment, how we operate that environment and how all the players, management and team operate in that environment.”
Whineray declined to verify whether senior players are involved in the discussions.
It comes after several players ruled themselves out of Silver Ferns contention, including former skipper Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Jane Watson, Te Paea Selby-Rickit, Tiana Metuarau and Ellie Bird.
McCausland-Durie is a vastly experienced coach, having won three ANZ Premiership titles with the Central Pulse.
Former Silver Fern Liana Leota was an England assistant coach and this year joined the Steel in the ANZ Premiership.
The Silver Ferns’ three-match Taini Jamison Series against the South Africa Proteas is set to start on September 21 in Auckland, before going to Napier and Invercargill.
After taking the helm in 2018, Taurua led the Silver Ferns to a 2019 World Cup victory. However, four years later, the team experienced their worst World Cup performance, finishing fourth in South Africa.
When her contract expired in January last year, NNZ opened the head coach role to applicants, consulting Taurua during the process.
After reapplying and interviewing, the now 57-year-old was reappointed on a two-year deal in April 2024, with an eye towards the 2027 World Cup in Sydney.
The England Roses claimed the Taini Jamison Trophy last year for the first time since 2021, beating the Silver Ferns two games to one.
Nathan Limm has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the New Zealand Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast and commentates on rugby and netball for Gold Sport.