Noeline Taurua has been stood down as Silver Ferns coach. Photo / Photosport
By Dana Johannsen of RNZ
High Performance Sport NZ has quietly footed the bill for an independent review and player wellbeing support in the Silver Ferns’ camp, even as the coach at the centre of the crisis, Dame Noeline Taurua, remains a sitting member of the agency’s board.
While Netball NZ grapples with a deepening crisis over Taurua’s suspension, HPSNZ has played a behind-the-scenes role, offering funding, strategic advice, and resourcing to help steer the troubled high-performance programme.
But its involvement in the highly public, and increasingly political, dispute raises uncomfortable questions.
What began as a quietly handled cultural review has spiralled into one of the biggest controversies in New Zealand netball history. Tensions erupted into public view last month when Netball NZ abruptly stood down Taurua and her coaching staff just days from the Taini Jamison series against South Africa.
The decision came after the coach and national body failed to reach an agreement over proposed changes in the Silver Ferns’ high-performance environment.
Netball NZ has since confirmed that Taurua will remain sidelined until at least the end of the year after further mediation talks following the South Africa series failed to break the deadlock.
The fallout intensified this week when Sport and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell called on Sport NZ, the parent body of HPSNZ, to step in and help settle the dispute.
“It’s between Netball New Zealand and Dame Noeline, but what I have said is it’s taking too long, it’s damaging netball, all of these people are deeply passionate about the game,” Mitchell told RNZ’s Morning Report.
“I’ve asked [chief executive Raelene Castle] to go away and see whether or not there are any levers or any support that we can provide, whether or not there are people who can help to unlock the negotiation that is going on. I’ve just said any expertise, any resource that we’ve got to be able to help this thing, let’s do it.”
Behind the scenes, Castle, who is also chief executive of HPSNZ, has had clear oversight of the issues for some time.
As reported by RNZ last month, senior managers of HPSNZ were at the table for an 11th-hour crisis meeting on the eve of a Silver Ferns training camp, in which the proposed changes to the high-performance environment were discussed.
Among the solutions put forward at the meeting was the introduction of additional player support staff for the South Africa series, including former All Blacks manager Darren Shand and Silver Ferns great Tracey Fear.
According to multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations, it was the unwillingness of the coaching staff to agree to these measures that ultimately triggered the decision to stand them down.
However, sources close to the coaching staff reject these accounts and claim the coaches supported involving Shand and Fear, and co-designed a player wellbeing strategy with Netball NZ and players’ association officials.
The proposed changes stemmed from an independent review, funded by HPSNZ, which uncovered “significant issues” within the Ferns environment.
The review, described by HPSNZ as an “environmental scan and health check”, was conducted by performance consultant Bryan Stronach after concerns were raised by several players via the New Zealand Netball Players’ Association.
Some senior players, including former captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio, have made themselves unavailable for the Silver Ferns over the past 18 months, while others are said to be “hanging there by a thread”.
However, the findings of the review were rejected by Taurua and her coaching team, who questioned its scope and methodology.
Former Silver Ferns selector Gail Parata, who resigned last month in protest at Netball NZ’s treatment of Taurua, told RNZ that seven players were interviewed as part of the review, from a wider group of 31 playing and support staff.
After the national body decided to stand down the coaching staff, Shand and Fear were contracted for the Taini Jamison series, the costs of which were covered by HPSNZ.
In a statement, HPSNZ confirmed its role in funding the cultural review, as well as its support for player welfare initiatives. It added that the scope of Stronach, Shand and Fear’s work was agreed between the respective consultants and Netball NZ, not by HPSNZ.
It’s understood that Shand’s role with the Ferns finished after the South Africa series, while Fear has remained with the team for this month’s Constellation Cup, with Netball NZ now picking up the bill.
Since the South Africa series, the standoff between Netball NZ and Taurua has moved into what’s now described as an “employment process”. As a result, HPSNZ has stepped back from active involvement.
Still, it remains in an awkward position. It has made athlete safety and wellbeing a central pillar of its 2025-28 strategic plan after a raft of high-profile reviews into the country’s elite sports. The death of Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore in August 2021 further accelerated an overhaul of HPSNZ’s policies.
It has committed to greater accountability and transparency around high-performance culture, yet finds itself entwined in a dispute where one of its board members is reportedly accused of creating an unsafe environment.
RNZ submitted questions to Mitchell’s office about whether there were any concerns about Taurua’s role as a board member in light of the continuing dispute, but did not receive a response.
Taurua was appointed to the board of HPSNZ in August 2022.
At the time, HPSNZ noted it was “aware” that, as coach of the Silver Ferns, Taurua might be conflicted in her role as board member.
“As is standard board practice, Dame Noeline will declare any conflict and step aside from board discussions and decisions when necessary.”
In a statement provided to RNZ last month, HPSNZ board chairwoman Raewyn Lovett said “specific issues that Netball New Zealand is facing are between their organisation and Dame Noeline Taurua”.
Lovett added that Taurua remained a member of the HPSNZ board.
– RNZ