Louisa Wall: Flexibility key to Willering's winning

Netball North coach Yvonne Willering, who has announced her retirement from NPC coaching, should be congratulated for guiding her well-balanced team to the national title.

The final against Waikato could have gone either way but it was Willering's judgement and decision to replace her charges in the shooting circle that paid dividends.

Cathrine Latu and Teresa Tairi established a good foundation in the first half and at halftime Daneka Wipiiti was injected replacing Latu and she was particularly good at capitalising on the excellent ball won by the defensive end.

Then in the third quarter Tairi, a true stalwart and icon of the game was replaced with Brigette Tapene, in another bold move from Willering.

As a coach you have to play to win just as the players do and make the hard decisions regarding on field personnel that best suit the situation. This flexibility and ability to change should not be underestimated.

Netball North had been bridesmaids for the previous two years to a Waikato side full of talent and it was great to see lively competition between both finalists and semifinalists Canterbury and Auckland Waitakere too.

It was fitting Willering ended her NPC coaching career in the style that she had enjoyed as a first-time coach in 1986 with Auckland.

Her retirement will provide another with an opportunity. She had a trainee coach with her this year and this highlights the Officer of the Order of New Zealand awarded to her in 2002 for her services to netball. Willering is focused on succession planning and building the next generation of coaches.

She will continue as coach of the Force in the 2006 National Bank Cup so her talents will continue to be enjoyed by the sport.

I hope Willering can provide some inspiration to Auckland NPC coach Pat Lam.

After finishing seventh in the NPC last year, it seems now that Lam has been successful in creating an environment where the players enjoy their rugby, and competition within the squad is healthy for positions.

Tonight they have a chance to take something tangible out of the 2005 NPC season with the Ranfurly Shield in sight.

And this victory will set them up perfectly for the semifinals and finale to the competition prior to All Black selections and their Northern Hemisphere grand slam tour.

The forwards are creating a solid foundation for the talent in the backline and if the team continues to play as they have been, they will bring the Log o' Wood back to the City of Sails and hopefully claim NPC victory as the Auckland Thunder, the women's NPC team did last week.

Lam will have to be as deft as Willering was in her selections and team deliberations to produce the desired result.

Canterbury, almost unbeatable at home, will have been motivated by defeat last weekend so the showdown at Jade has all the hallmarks of a classic encounter of old foes.

My money is on the boys in blue and white. Let's hope when they take the field tomorrow night that the lights are on and they are totally in the moment. Anything less will not be good enough.

* Louisa Wall is a former New Zealand netball and rugby coach