Noeline Taurua is set to be named as the Silver Ferns head coach. Photo / Photosport
Noeline Taurua is set to be named as the Silver Ferns head coach. Photo / Photosport
The minute Janine Southby announced her resignation as the Silver Ferns coach in July, Noeline Taurua has been the talk of the town.
And now that her successful season with the Sunshine Coast Lightning is done and dusted with yet another Super Netball title to her name, the former Waikato-Bayof Plenty Magic coach is set to finalise a contract with Netball New Zealand and be named the 11th Silver Ferns coach.
"I'm really happy to get the grand finals out the way ... I'll probably reflect on where we are and what we need to do in our coming weeks," Taurua told Australian media after the Lightning defeated the West Coast Fever 62-59 in Perth on Sunday.
"[I'm] still working with other things that's going to be happening in my life and hopefully we'll see where that goes too within the next couple of days or over the week."
Although identified as the only potential candidate to coach the ailing national side, Netball NZ veered away from dropping Taurua's name at a press conference earlier this month in Auckland when the 2018-19 Silver Ferns squad was named.
Netball NZ Chief Executive Jennie Wyllie insisted the board were in talks with multiple candidates and denied any deal had been made with the Kiwi coach.
Noeline Taurua said that she was committed to the Lightning until the end of their 2019 Super Netball season. Photo / Photosport
However, it was understood that the delay in naming a new head coach was due to the Lightning's prolonged finals run and Taurua's desire to not let the pending announcement distract herself or her team.
Netball NZ assured they would name the head coach before September 10 but with Taurua now available, an announcement could be expected later this week.
It is understood that one of the major hurdles for Netball NZ with signing Taurua is her current contract to coach the Lightning until the end of the 2019 Super Netball season.
Despite speculation that she would leave the Australian club early, Taurua has affirmed her commitment to the franchise for another season which has suggested she will coach both sides.
Taurua would be the first Silver Ferns coach to lead the national side while being contracted to an Australian franchise, but with next year's Super Netball competition outside of the international season, it seems an increasingly viable option.
With less than three weeks until the Ferns face Commonwealth Games champions the England Roses in the Quad Series, Taurua will be keen to finalise contract details with the national body and return to New Zealand as soon as possible.
The Ferns will play England on September 15 at Spark Arena before taking on South Africa's Proteas on September 18 in Tauranga.
