Netball: Coffin takes no prisoners

Jenny-May Coffin. Photo / Getty Images

Jenny-May Coffin likes to paraphase Mick Jagger. While the Rolling Stones famously sang about Emotional Rescue, the Mystics assistant coach prefers to talk about emotional reduction.

According to Coffin, their new-found mental toughness is down to taking the emotion out of the equation and being completely clinical.

"We have been working game by game to remove any emotion - that is it in a nutshell," explains Coffin. "It is business - you do your job out on court and by staying focused on your job, you remove anything else.

"Whether you know the player you are playing against, whether it is a team you have never beaten before, whether you are playing in Australia - you need to remove all of the emotional attachment to it and concentrate on your job."

The northern franchise were perennial under-achievers who would often wilt under pressure in tight matches. At the start of the campaign, head coach Debbie Fuller and Coffin confronted the team with the truth.

"We were upfront with them at the beginning of the season about the perception of the team - we put it out there; the reality."

The hard-nosed Coffin, pushed into the limelight by Fuller recently having a baby, does not tolerate excuses. Expectations are higher and with that comes results.

"You can motivate players on an emotional level at different times but when it comes to the court it is solely about understanding what your job is - then doing it.

"If you can't, then someone else is sitting there waiting to do it."

Coffin, who retired at the end of last season, has made the leap from playing to coaching at the same club faster than just about anyone in New Zealand sport.

Ivan Cleary took three years to return to the Warriors as an assistant coach; there was 15 years between the playing and coaching stints of Jamie Joseph in Otago while Todd Blackadder took the Crusaders' reins eight years after last wearing their No. 4 jersey.

Coffin's transition has been made more difficult by the fact that she is coaching 10 of her former team-mates.

The 36-year-old, who admits she has close friends among the playing staff, is adamant there is no problem making the tough decisions.

"I can't be compromised," says Coffin. "I make the calls that are best for the team and you have to separate friendship from coaching."

The most difficult aspect of swapping bib for clipboard has been that constant analysis, the inability to switch off. Coffin describes waking up at 2am to jot down a tactical idea or thought, only to dismiss it hours later.

The switch has been eased by her working relationship with Fuller, which until now has been going "incredibly well". They often agree to disagree on selection, tactics, playing styles - which Coffin says promotes honest communication and better solutions. It also helps that they covered different ends of the court in their playing days, and insiders say the duo have ramped up the discipline at the Mystics.

"Training is not a reason to turn up and throw the ball around," confirms Coffin. "There is actually a purpose to everything that we do. You play how you train - if you want to muck around at training then, guess what - that will happen in a game."

Fuller is still constantly on the phone to Coffin. She expects to return for either the home game against the Firebirds (round seven) or Pulse (round eight) but is unlikely to make the trip to Perth in round nine.

Another hallmark of the Mystics play this season has been the performance of their young brigade, who have consistently brought their 'A' game to the court when required.

"They know what we expect and have shown enough in training to make us pick them. It helps that we have a lot of experience they can feed off but in the end it is up to them," says Coffin.

The Mystics are in Adelaide tomorrow night, hoping to record their first ever victory on Australian soil. After losing stars like Mo'onia Gerrard and Geva Mentor during the off season, the defending champions have been in disarray, losing by 18 goals or more on four occasions already this year.

Their desperation and confusion was highlighted last week against the Firebirds, when they used Carla Borrego, leading scorer in the ANZ Championship last year (574 goals, ahead of Irene van Dyk 554) as goal keeper for 55 minutes of the match.

"We know they will target us as a way to get their season back on track," says Coffin. "They are an uncompromising side who will be desperate for the win. We have to match that."