A zone will host a regional SGM if enough centres call for it.<\/p>\n
Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua was sidelined for much of 2025. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Waikato Bay of Plenty held its own SGM on December 7<\/a>, at which it formalised becoming one of those three.<\/p>\n The Wellington, Hawke\u2019s Bay and Kapi Mana centres fall under the Central Zone, which, at this point, has chosen not to comment on the situation.<\/p>\n Tauranga Netball Centre board chair Nicola Compton earlier declared her organisation had lost faith in the governing body<\/a> due to a perceived lack of leadership and transparency.<\/p>\n She cited the handling of Taurua\u2019s standing-down<\/a>, a lack of planning around the ANZ Premiership and the struggle to secure long-term broadcast deals<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whaitiri \u2013 who played netball alongside Taurua and even trialled for the Silver Ferns in years gone by \u2013 told the Herald that NNZ breached its own constitution by not providing Taurua with a formal complaint.<\/p>\n The Silver Ferns coach was sensationally stood down days out from the Taini Jamison Trophy series following a review, led by Bryan Stronach, into the high-performance environment. The review was triggered by player complaints about psychological safety dating back to a January camp in Sydney.<\/p>\n Taurua was reinstated two months later, with NNZ clearing her of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n However, the 2019 World Cup winner did not go on the Ferns\u2019 northern tour and will not be back with the team until July, two to three weeks out from the Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n The Herald has not been able to secure an interview with Taurua since her media blitz on November 3, despite repeated attempts.<\/p>\n Whaitiri said she is stunned by the treatment of Taurua.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think people should be held accountable. And if they can be more open and upfront about what caused them to take that action, perhaps people will then start saying, \u2018Oh, okay, that makes sense.\u2019 But in the absence of any transparency, this is what\u2019s happening. People are left to speculate.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very clear that the board approved this. The highest accountability in Netball New Zealand is the board, and I believe the board needs to go.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the board believe they did the right thing, they should put all those facts out on the table so people can see the logic in the decision-making. We haven\u2019t received it. They\u2019ve been very quiet and cagey on what they\u2019re releasing.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to conclude that their processes weren\u2019t sound, and that is what\u2019s in the hands of the centres and the zones at the moment of who appoints the board. And so I wish those centres and those zones find the facts, find the courage, and make the appropriate decision.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement, NNZ disagreed with Whaitiri\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n \u201cRegarding Bryan Stronach\u2019s review, Dame Noeline clarified on November 3 that she did receive a summary of the concerns raised by the players through the Players\u2019 Association and responded accordingly. <\/p>\n \u201cNetball New Zealand provided reasons for Dame Noeline\u2019s proposed suspension. These were disputed by Dame Noeline as she engaged in the employment process and provided feedback. She has since been reinstated and both parties remain committed to moving forward constructively and working collaboratively.\u201d<\/p>\n Whaitiri said she fully supports the push for a vote of no confidence in the NNZ board.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is around upholding the mana of our sport, which is what the constitution actually says the board is responsible for \u2013 not to put the sport into disrepute. Well, they\u2019ve failed miserably in that regard. And they\u2019ve also got a duty of care for all employees, including Noeline, and they have miserably failed in that sense.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m encouraging my own centres to be strong. Please have the special general meeting. Please go in well-informed, not with emotion, but on facts, and then make the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Whaitiri said they have to get cracking to force change.<\/p>\n \u201cUnless the other centres come, then it obviously will end there. Which will be a shame because again, she\u2019s [Taurua] reinstated, but no one\u2019s been held accountable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s crazy. It would never happen in rugby or cricket. But somehow it\u2019s acceptable in netball.\u201d<\/p>\n Whaitiri said she has been in contact with Taurua throughout recent months.<\/p>\n \u201cShe just wanted her job back. She is passionate about the sport, as many of us are. She has delivered results. She\u2019s got a unique style.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s forever innovating and she surrounds herself with really good people \u2013 and the players\u2019 welfare is definitely something that she holds really dearly.\u201d<\/p>\n In October, Labour MP Willie Jackson called for Sports Minister Mark Mitchell to freeze NNZ\u2019s funding<\/a> until there was clarity about the suspension of Taurua.<\/p>\n Nathan Limm<\/a> has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast<\/a> and commentates rugby and netball for Gold Sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A zone will host a regional SGM if enough centres call for it. Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2372,34518,2950,2947,2082,2740,6371,6721,16762,117,111,43,139,16759,69,5256,21643,15400,17526,16763,5905,80],"class_list":["post-188461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-board","tag-centres","tag-confidence","tag-dame","tag-for","tag-former","tag-joins","tag-labour","tag-netball","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-noeline","tag-nz","tag-overhaul","tag-politician","tag-push","tag-rallying","tag-taurua","tag-vote","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188461","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=188461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Former MP Meka Whaitiri (centre) has spoken in support of Dame Noeline Taurua (inset). Photos \/ NZME, Photosport<\/p>\n
Meka Whaitiri said the Netball New Zealand board should be held accountable. “It’s crazy. It would never happen in rugby or cricket.”<\/p>\n