Rob Wright, New Zealand's first pro male netball coach. Photo / Getty
Rob Wright, New Zealand's first pro male netball coach. Photo / Getty
Rob Wright doesn't like white, pink or orange sneakers, he likes to drink Coca-Cola - but never diet - he's quirky and is said to have a rather dry sense of humour.
He's also the first male netball coach signed to a New Zealand domestic team, as assistant coach ofthe Northern Mystics under Helene Wilson in the ANZ Premiership.
And despite his charismatic demeanour, it's not a job he takes lightly.
"I'm like the quality control officer," Wright said after overseeing a tough training session on the North Shore. "If it needs to be picked up, I'll jump in.
"I certainly think outside the square and that's why people often find me a bit odd I think."
Originally from Australia, Wright's journey to Auckland started when he was sacked from the Collingwood Magpies last September after the side finished last in the eight-team Super Netball competition.
Wright looked at New Zealand-based roles due to his disliking of the new Super Netball rules which includes the two-goal super shot and rolling substitutions.
It's the same reason Australian Diamonds shooter Caitlin Bassett moved to the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic this season.
Wright says he prefers the ANZ Premiership due to having the same rules at international netball.
"I'm a bit of a purest in terms of that because I like the rules as they are."
He stumbled upon an advert for the position at the Mystics before applying and going through what he describes as "the toughest interview" of his career.
"I've done a fair few interviews so it was really good because it made me think," he said. "Luckily they thought I was the best person for the job so here I am."
Rob Wright when he was coaching the Magpies. Photo / Getty
It wasn't smooth sailing right away as Covid-19 travel restrictions meant he was forced to coach the Mystics' pre-season and first-round match via Zoom, before finally being able to join the team in Auckland last week.
Although new to the New Zealand netball scene, Wright is experienced.
He guided the New South Wales Swifts to consecutive grand finals in 2015 and 2016 in the former transtasman ANZ Championship - where he began his history-making career as the first male netball coach across the ditch.
Internationally, male netball coaches are rare with only a handful of teams such as Northern Ireland and Trinidad and Tobago led by men.
And it's not necessarily what Wright wants to be noticed for, but does admit it allows him to bring something different.
"Being male for a start automatically makes you something different to everyone else when you're the only one, so I think that's a point of difference that's always good," he said. "Outside of that, because I was rubbish at playing, I quickly worked out that coaching was my thing so I probably come in with less preconceived ideas because I've learnt off a whole lot of very good people.
"I come with a lot of diversity and just think a little bit different."
Rob Wright, New Zealand's first pro male netball coach. Photo / Getty
So far, he's been a hit with the players, with Mystics captain Sulu Fitzpatrick praising his approach to coaching.
"He's not afraid to tell us how it is, he'll call it out if we're not doing what we need to be doing in real-time," Fitzpatrick said.
"He's quirky, he's real, he's honest and he's very direct and that's what you need. He's a good balance with Helene who's quite big picture [and] creative so they balance each other out really well."
The Mystics have started the season with one loss and one win heading into the third round against the Mainland Tactix.
Wright has high hopes from what he's seen in training and knows what his side needs to do in order to be in contention for this year's title.
"I'm really pleased that our second round was a real improvement from round one and that's all you really want, you want to be seeing gains from week to week," Wright said. "It's going to be all about consistency.
"Every week just needs to be a step up because this comp is close and that's something that's really exciting, all six teams look pretty close so we'll see what happens."
