Netball: Pulse gunning for title in 2018

An excited Pulse team react after winning. Photo / Christine Cornege.

It sounds preposterous to picture the Central Pulse as the 2018 ANZ Championship winners.

The perennial underachievers have never made the playoffs and have done little more than talk about how good they could be if it all clicks for the entirety of the transtasman netball league.

But they named Tanya Dearns as their new coach yesterday and with it came a bold vision from chief executive Carolyn Young who said they wanted to build a side that could claim their maiden title in 2018.

You have to admire the direction - it's something that has been lacking from the Pulse in recent times as they have bumbled from one season to the next.

"From my perspective, I need to step back and say 'what do we need to do to win in 2018?' and 'how do we build to get there?'," Young said.

"We need to create a team and a culture that's going to aspire to those goals and aspire to want to do really well every week, every day, every training session and I think the championship will come."

The Pulse have an ageing roster with the likes of 42-year-old goal shoot Irene van Dyk on the books this year, while import Ama Agbeze, wing defence Joline Henry and mid-courter Liana Leota are all 30 or older.

Henry and Leota were noted disciples of former coach Robyn Broughton and it's hard to see them returning next season.

Dearns, who has had limited involvement with top-level netball recently considering she has worked as the general manager of National Basketball League outfit the Bay Hawks, said recruitment was a pressing issue.

"There is going to be conversations around some of the older members in the squad and those conversations haven't been had yet," Dearns said.

There could be a role for van Dyk with the team, either on or off the court, given the experience she has but Dearns said the side wanted to promote their promising young players from within the region.

Dearns was an assistant for the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in 2013 and recently spent time with the Scottish national side in a coaching capacity, which sparked her desire to coach again.

She is close with Silver Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunu and the pair speak regularly about the game.

Dearns took a more impatient attitude to the goal of winning a title in 2018.

"I want to win next year," she said. "For me, it's about winning games and it's about making sure our product is right to do that."

The Pulse look set to drop their flexible attitude around letting players jet in from out of town - goal attack Jodi Brown often commuted from the South Island this year - and the franchise wants players to be domiciled in the capital to add in more training time.

They will likely move to four sessions per week next year, while three was the norm this season.

Curiously, Dearns will still commute from Hawke's Bay but she defended that choice despite it giving a look of 'do as I say, not as I do'.

"It's all about the team, so I will be here when I have to be here and I will be available," she said.

Dearns' assistant coach will be named at a later date, while the Pulse also confirmed that skipper Katrina Grant will return for the 2016 season.