Yvette McCausland-Durie was only asked to take over as Silver Ferns head coach hours before the announcement was made on Wednesday that Dame Noeline Taurua was being stood down.
Taurua won’t coach the team for the Taini Jamison series against South Africa - starting Sunday week - as a resultof a Netball New Zealand-initiated review which occurred without her knowledge earlier this year.
The Herald understands it was triggered by up to seven current or former Ferns voicing concerns to the NZ Netball Players Association (NZNPA) about feeling unsafe in Taurua’s environment.
McCausland-Durie, who hasn’t coached professional netball for the last two years, received the shock phone call from Netball NZ’s high performance support team, Tracey Fear and Waimarama Taumaunu, around lunchtime on Wednesday.
McCausland-Durie and her husband, Nathan Durie, this year reopened the oldest Māori boarding school in Aotearoa after it closed its doors in 2000.
McCausland-Durie does not intend to coach the Silver Ferns on a permanent basis, and said the Taini Jamison series works for her as it mostly runs over the school holidays.
Fear and Taumaunu asked if she could ‘clear the deck’ and so ensued a whirlwind 24 hours.
The former Pulse coach was packed and ready to go by 1.30am on Thursday.
McCausland-Durie said she specifically asked not to be told what has happened between the players and Taurua.
Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua.
“Because I don’t want to be clouded with the job. The job I was asked to do was to come in in the interim. So my piece has really been about being open to respect and hear where the players are at and then be really clear about maintaining the systems.”
McCausland-Durie said a major part of her first day has been working through the emotion for everybody involved.
NNZ board chair Matt Whineray admitted they are unsure when or if Taurua will be reinstated as head coach.
McCausland-Durie said she is unsure what she will do if asked to take over fulltime.
“I’m not in a position now to make that decision in terms of all of those other commitments that I’ve already got in place. So it would be a really big decision that would take quite a bit of time and working through for me along with the school board and all sorts of other things.”
However, McCausland-Durie refused to rule it out.
“Never say never. Opportunities present sometimes when you least expect them. Sometimes you’re not ready for them, but others might think you are. When that time comes, you have to be able to look at it from all directions.”
McCausland-Durie admits she is unsure whether she has the full support of the players.
She said the athletes have lost an important group of mentors in Taurua, Deb Fuller and Briony Akle.
“It’s like losing anybody that you’ve had a lot to do with. So respectfully for me, I’m not here to buy into any of whether they like me or not. I just simply have said to them I’m here to help manage the process.”
Nathan Limm has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the New Zealand Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast and commentates on rugby and netball for Gold Sport.
