Netball: Taumaunu vows to retain bullish coaching style

Wai Taumaunu. Photo / Getty Images

Wai Taumaunu takes her first bow as Silver Ferns head coach against Australia today but don't expect major changes to her famously firebrand approach.

In her years as assistant coach to Ruth Aitken, Taumaunu was the "bad cop" of the duo; straight to the point with players, she was probably the closest New Zealand netball has to fiery Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

"Certainly I am not planning any major changes to my style," she told the Herald on Sunday. "None of the feedback that I have had from people I have coached would indicate that major changes are necessary."

"I'm very conscious that the more energy I am expending in trying to be a nicer person is less energy that I am putting into staying focused on the job. I am aware that when I am very focused I can be a little bit off-putting and have to work on that but it is also one of my strengths; the focus and concentration on what is happening on the court and what needs to be changed."

"She is a hard taskmaster," said former Ferns captain Adine Wilson, "but she has a brilliant brain for the game and knows it inside out. The good thing is that, as a player, you are left in no doubt; you always know where you stand with Wai."

In the build-up to the Singapore world championships, players would sometimes compare notes in the team van, wondering who received the biggest verbal blast from Taumaunu on a particular day. Just as she did in her decade-long playing career with the Ferns (1981-1991), she demands the highest standards and will make it known if they are not reached.

"It might look intimidating but the players that I coach can get past the volume and the tone sometimes," said Taumaunu. "They recognise that I do care for them and my primary goal is to make all of us the best team we can be. From that starting point you can get around the way that people express themselves."

Taumanu has a lifetime of coaching behind her - beginning as a seventh former taking the junior teams at Riccarton College - but says the Ferns role was never a long-term vision, more a desire that has grown in the last couple of years.

"The excitement has started to kick in now and I'm really looking forward to it," says Taumaunu. "Coaching this group is as good as it gets; they are a great group of netball players and for a coach they really are the peak."

Her long term goal is to fashion a group that are "great decision-makers on court, skilful, confident and self reliant".

If there is one enduring criticism of the Silver Ferns over the last two decades, it has been the negative perception around their decision-making and self-reliance in the pressure moments in big games.

Despite the aura around the Ferns, the fact remains that their record is barely better than the All Blacks at world championships - and the netballers are usually in a two horse race. They have been pipped at the post at five of the last six world tournaments (1991, 1995, 1999, 2007 and 2011) while splitting the Commonwealth Games gold medals two apiece.

That is the war but the short-term battle starts today. Having been with the team for barely a week, there will be few immediate signs of the Taumaunu touch in Perth. Despite being seen as a defensive specialist, Taumaunu says she has a few ideas about attack - mainly centred about the midcourt.

"We are very fortunate that we have shooters who are really accurate," says Taumaunu. "The focus in the short- to medium-term is going to be on players like Liana [Leota] and Laura [Langman]. We need to bed down the links that they have with the shooters as well as looking at some new tactics plus it is also crucial that we grow our depth in the middle of the court."