{"id":103956,"date":"2025-10-27T19:48:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T19:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/103956\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T19:48:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T19:48:08","slug":"dame-noeline-taurua-affair-exposes-deep-cracks-in-netball-new-zealand-paul-lewis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/103956\/","title":{"rendered":"Dame Noeline Taurua affair exposes deep cracks in Netball New Zealand – Paul Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transparency was sidelined along with Taurua<\/a> after those fearsome words: \u201ccultural review\u201d. Two players, acting on behalf of a larger group, had previously gone to the NZ Netball Players\u2019 Association, apparently complaining about Taurua\u2019s leadership and communication style. There was the unforgettable allegation some Ferns felt \u201cpsychologically unsafe\u201d.<\/p>\n

The whole business stemmed from a training camp in Sydney in January \u2013 yes, nine whole months ago \u2013 where the Ferns apparently lost all four matches against the Swifts. That sparked the player complaints which were formally raised with NNZ but, after months without resolution, the Players\u2019 Association pressed for an independent review.<\/p>\n

Taurua and others questioned the subsequent review findings and the review itself. According to former selector Gail Parata<\/a> (who resigned last month over Taurua\u2019s treatment), seven players were interviewed as part of the review. Some reports maintained 24 other players and support staff could also have been interviewed.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Silver Ferns celebrate victory over Australia in Hamilton. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Taurua was stood down after it seemed she and NNZ couldn\u2019t agree<\/a> on subsequent proposed changes to the Silver Ferns\u2019 high-performance environment (changes that now appear to be partly, mostly or completely in place). It looked like Taurua might be lost to the sport \u2013 all because a governing body and a players\u2019 association wanted change but provoked a coach who felt her authority and integrity in question.<\/p>\n

Did it really need to be this way? There\u2019s a lot we still don\u2019t know but NNZ has not come out of this well. What was wrong with shelving matters until after the international series \u2013 a quiet, behind-closed-doors exploration of all issues with both parties after a full and frank investigation into the thoughts of the entire playing and coaching squad?<\/p>\n

Pressing ahead with the status quo may have made things awkward in the camp \u2013 but these are professional sportspeople. Instead, to many, the lack of information after the dramatic dropping of a popular coach looked as if the presumption of innocence had also been dropped, NNZ seemingly siding with a few players, weakening Taurua\u2019s authority.<\/p>\n

\"DameDame Noeline Taurua will return as Silver Ferns coach. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Some onlookers quoted player safety using the high-performance situation surrounding Olivia Podmore\u2019s death<\/a> and the review which led to Cycling New Zealand making big culture and personnel changes. Yes, but the background to that tragedy involved adultery, an inappropriate relationship, bullying, mockery and a \u201cboys club\u201d. There\u2019s been no hint of anything of that gravity but the following damaging developments before, in and around the Taurua affair must, by any reasonable analysis, threaten the wellbeing of the sport in New Zealand:<\/p>\n

Broadcast rights negotiations with Sky broke down \u2013 with domestic netball staying on TV only after NNZ was forced to pay TVNZ for production and delivery costs of its games, increasing netball\u2019s financial burdens. \u00a0Several players have already voted with their wallets, joining Australian teams for next year\u2019s Super Netball season. Other senior players, including former skipper Ameliaranne Ekanasio, have made themselves unavailable for the Ferns over the past 18 months, raising doubts around depth and worsening international results.Despite denials, players were clearly divided, with Grace Nweke\u2019s impassioned \u201cNoels, we love you, we miss you\u2026\u201d on-court televised speech<\/a> evidence. Some wore wristbands with \u201cNT\u201d written on them on court. Contract confidentiality means they cannot speak openly.\u00a0The second loss to Australia saw current captain Karin Burger and stand-in coach Yvette McCausland-Durie blame mental lapses for the heavy defeats,\u00a0though they beat the Australians in the third game, hours after Taurua\u2019s reinstatement.\u00a0Burger said there were \u201cthings in the background\u201d she described as \u201cclogging our brains\u201d.\u00a0The Taurua controversy, shrouded in mystery and conjecture, did not go down well with an uninformed public<\/a>. Social media lambasted the players. Some media commentators cast some Ferns as soft, whiny youth, unfamiliar and unhappy with the demands of elite sport, running to administrators when the coach demanded more.<\/p>\n

Add all that up and it appears netball itself is psychologically unsafe\u201d at present. There\u2019s only one place to sheet that home to. The word \u201cmanagement\u201d to describe the Taurua affair seems to be missing a prefix \u2013 and it seems a safe bet another \u201ccultural review\u201d may soon be on the way for NNZ, maybe focusing on governance and performance<\/p>\n

Paul Lewis<\/a> writes about rugby, cricket, league, football, yachting, golf, the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transparency was sidelined along with Taurua after those fearsome words: \u201ccultural review\u201d. Two players, acting on behalf of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[62784,40181,2947,25819,4053,3278,78,27494,16762,117,111,139,16759,69,17357,213,16763,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-103956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-affair","9":"tag-cracks","10":"tag-dame","11":"tag-deep","12":"tag-exposes","13":"tag-facts","14":"tag-in","15":"tag-lewis","16":"tag-netball","17":"tag-new","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-newzealand","20":"tag-noeline","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-paul","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-taurua","25":"tag-zealand"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}