KEY POINTS:
As a stepping stone to the Tasman Trophy, Yvonne Willering says the national netball championship needs to be revamped to ensure New Zealand has the talent to match its Australian rivals.
Willering, appointed coach of the Greater Auckland franchise last week, will now begin assembling a team for the new transtasman competition, which starts in Azpril.
She is not allowed to contract players until competition rules are finalised but is able to hold discussions with potential candidates. The draft rules allow teams to carry a squad of up to 16, reduced to 12 for each game.
While the Silver Ferns are top of every team's shopping list, Willering said coaches will be looking to this month's national championships for players.
"We really need to revamp that," she said of a competition which has some games staged in Dunedin and Invercargill over the weekend of September 14-16 and the remainder at Palmerston North from September 24-29.
"I think it needs to have far more importance placed on it because that is where you are looking for players for this tier and it is a big step up."
The Tasman Trophy aims to have an even spread of talent acrosss the 10 teams - but there is some concern it may not. Australia's champion Commonwealth Bank trophy side, the Sydney Swifts, boasts six Australian test players. If that group remains intact for the Tasman Trophy, it will create one potent team.
But Willering doesn't believe the five teams New Zealand will field - three less than competed in the National Bank Cup, will be any less powerful.
"I think players are going to miss out just likes some of the coaches have missed out. I think we'll be fielding some pretty good teams."
To ensure the greater Auckland area is producing players of a high enough calibre, Willering will work with each of the regions in her catchment area.
"It is not about blending the Diamonds and the Force, it is about creating a whole new team," she said.
In relation to securing sponsorship, greater Auckland board chair Shirley Hooper said they are making "outstandingly" good progress.
"It is a $1.4-$1.5 million budget we are looking at," Hooper said. "Some of that money comes from the Tasman Trophy [organisation] but that is quite a big undertaking for netball. "You have coaches, assistant coaches, trainers, nutritionists and video analysis people. It is not just other Kiwi teams we are competing against - it is the Australians. "
