Taumaunu's record far from full story

Silver Ferns Coach Waimarama Taumaunu's tenure coincided with a difficult period for New Zealand netball. Photo / Dean Purcell

In an industry that demands results, high performance coaches are ultimately judged by their win-loss column. But there are times when records do not tell the full story.

Such is the case with Waimarama Taumaunu's four-year stint with the Silver Ferns.

Taumaunu will walk away from the team at the end of the year without a major title to her credit, and a win-loss record hovering around the 70 per cent mark, depending on how results go in next month's four-test Constellation Cup series against Australia.

It's hardly a flattering record and certainly not one that will meet Taumaunu's exacting standards. And yet ask around and many will tell you the former Silver Ferns defender is one of the most astute coaches New Zealand netball has produced.

Taumaunu isn't one for excuses, but the reality is she was dealt a pretty tough hand during her time as Silver Ferns coach.

Her tenure coincided with a difficult period for New Zealand netball as the magnitude of New Zealand's player depth crisis after years of inaction by the national body began to reveal itself. The systematic failure of the country's player development structures and the import rules in the ANZ Championship created positional shortages, which meant Taumaunu was left with little option but to select players who couldn't make the starting line-ups of their franchise sides.

For most of Taumaunu's time with the Silver Ferns she also had little in the way of high performance support, as Netball NZ struggled initially to fill the void left by Tracey Fear's departure in 2012. It is only since the arrival of former Crusaders high performance director Steve Lancaster in January that this area has been boosted.

The shame is, Taumaunu was only just beginning to make real gains with the group after making a series of sweeping changes ahead of the World Cup. The young New Zealand side impressed with their bold new attacking game plan at last month's tournament in Sydney, playing with confidence and flair. Although the Ferns couldn't pull off the win in Sydney, their performances restored belief in New Zealand netball.

It could be argued it should not have taken three and a half years for those changes to be made. But serious injuries to Bailey Mes and Kayla Cullen and the late development of Grace Rasmussen meant the Ferns' pool-play meeting with Australia was the first opportunity to play that line-up against the Diamonds.

Many will also accuse the Ferns coaching staff of failing to institute a proper succession plan for Irene van Dyk.

While van Dyk's sharp decline in form last year caught many off guard, Cathrine Latu had still been groomed since 2011 to replace the veteran shooter. When it became obvious last year Latu's game style was not effective against the Australian style of play, the only option to turn to was Mes - a player who was not receiving regular court time in the ANZ Championship.

It's inevitable that over time the circumstances which underpinned Taumaunu's tenure with the Ferns will be forgotten, with history remembering only cold hard numbers.

But a better indicator of Taumaunu's influence is the overwhelming disappointment with which the news of her departure was greeted throughout the New Zealand netball community.