The Silver Ferns have been in a four-day camp in Auckland this week preparing for the Constellation Cup against Australia. Photo / Andrew Cornaga / Photosport
By Dana Johannsen of RNZ
Within the concrete, windowless walls of the North Shore gym where the Silver Ferns are preparing for this month’s Constellation Cup series against Australia, the outside noise has been reduced to a low hum.
It is not even detectable at first. All you hear is the squeaking of shoes on the wooden floors and the chorus of spirited chatter among the players as they run through a series of training drills and match scenarios.
It is only in the stillness during stoppages that you can hear it – the faint echoes of the bitter battle playing outside of the stadium in the public arena.
It can be heard in the new voices in the support staff offering feedback on the session, in the click of extra cameras trained on the court and in the quiet shuffle of Netball NZ staff and board members observing from the sidelines.
The Ferns' programme has been embroiled in turmoil for the past month since Netball New Zealand made the decision to stand down coach Dame Noeline Taurua before the home series against South Africa.
Last weekend the dispute took another turn when the national body confirmed Taurua would be sidelined until at least the end of the year after failed mediation attempts.
In the fallout from the ongoing saga, the players have been a lightning rod for criticism, having been accused of being the root cause of a dispute that has spiralled out of control.
But within the bunker-like surrounds of the training court at AUT’s Akoranga campus, there is no hint of a siege mentality.
The initial shellshock has worn off. In its place: acceptance. Emotion has been replaced with pragmatism. Division with, at least for now, a shared understanding that it’s okay to see things differently.
When the Ferns assembled for last month’s Taini Jamison series against South Africa, there was, as newly named captain Karin Burger puts it, “lots of mess going around in people’s heads” as the team grappled with the abrupt decision to stand down Taurua and her wider coaching team.
In the face of external pressure, cracks began to appear within the team towards the end of the series.
After the Ferns’ last-gasp victory over the Proteas in the final test, which secured New Zealand a 3-0 clean sweep, star goal shoot Grace Nweke took the opportunity during the on-court presentation to issue a plea for Taurua’s return.
The move divided the netball community, with some hailing the young shooter’s decision to speak out as “brave”, while others questioned whether it was fair of her to pass off her personal views as the collective wishes of the group.
Nweke was not available for interviews at this week’s media session. It is not clear if this was her decision or Netball NZ’s.
However, Burger says the tensions in the team have been addressed.
“People are going to have different opinions depending on the experiences they’ve had, and just because I have one opinion doesn’t mean I can put down someone else’s opinion,” the 32-year-old defender says.
“I think we’ve got to a really good point this week that we’ve left what was said and done in the past.”
Liana Leota, who alongside Yvette McCausland has answered the SOS call to lead the Ferns in a caretaker role for the next two series, says it took raw and honest conversations to allow the team to “move forward in alignment”.
“We’ve had tears, you know, we’ve had those hard, tough conversations with each other, but I think what that has done is galvanise them more.”
Tracey Fear, another new face on the sideline, says the “unifying force” is the black dress.
The Ferns’ defensive great, who has been brought into the programme as a high-performance consultant and to offer extra support to the players, says it has been difficult to watch the players have to navigate the off-court challenges facing them over the past month.
“I think the really heartening part that I’ve seen is these players’ resilience and the ability to unite in the black dress,” Fear says.
“What I’ve seen over the last few days in camp is they’ve really taken that step up in intensity, because they know Australia will be a huge challenge and they don’t want to be distracted from that challenge.”
Having clarity on what the programme looks like for the next seven weeks has also been a settling influence on the team, according to Burger and her vice-captain Kelly Jackson.
McCausland-Durie and Leota, who guided the Ferns to a 3-0 win over South Africa last month, agreed to take the reins once more for Constellation Cup and the November tour to Britain – though both are clear they are a short-term fix.
“Now that we know what the next couple of months are going to look like and we’ve also put a line in the sand to know what the leadership’s going to look like has been really helpful,” says Burger, who was among three “rotating” captains used in last month’s series.
“It gives us that mental certainty and that’s now being able to be reflected physically as well.”
But amid the talk of a newfound resolve in the team, there remains a sense of impermanence to it all.
The team dynamic will be truly put to the test when they come under pressure from Australia.
The Ferns claimed a historic 3-1 victory in the Constellation Cup last year, trampling the world champions by as many as 19 goals in one test.
Amid the simmering broth of grievances and agendas playing out in the wider netball community, the Ferns’ results against Australia, and later England, will likely be weaponised.
Burger says the only thing her side can do is shut out the external noise and focus on themselves.
“We can’t control [other people’s opinions] and the information that’s put out there obviously will shape those opinions and we can’t control that either. What we can control is what we do here,” Burger says.
“And if we go into a series and we don’t perform, that’s creating way more scrutiny on us than what we currently have already. So we need to control what we can and we need to be able to go perform out there.”
– RNZ