{"id":72038,"date":"2025-10-11T13:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/72038\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T13:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:35:09","slug":"netball-inside-the-silver-ferns-camp-as-coaching-controversy-continues-to-echo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/72038\/","title":{"rendered":"Netball: Inside the Silver Ferns camp as coaching controversy continues to echo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ferns<\/a>‘ programme has been embroiled in turmoil for the past month since Netball New Zealand made the decision to stand down coach Dame Noeline Taurua<\/a> before the home series against South Africa.<\/p>\n

Last weekend the dispute took another turn when the national body confirmed Taurua would be sidelined until at least the end of the year<\/a> after failed mediation attempts.<\/p>\n

\"SouthSouth African-born defender Karin Burger has been named Silver Ferns captain for the next two series. Photo \/ Andrew Cornaga \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

In the fallout from the ongoing saga, the players have been a lightning rod for criticism, having been accused of being the root cause of a dispute that has spiralled out of control.<\/p>\n

But within the bunker-like surrounds of the training court at AUT\u2019s Akoranga campus, there is no hint of a siege mentality.<\/p>\n

The initial shellshock has worn off. In its place: acceptance. Emotion has been replaced with pragmatism. Division with, at least for now, a shared understanding that it\u2019s okay to see things differently.<\/p>\n

When the Ferns assembled for last month\u2019s Taini Jamison series against South Africa, there was, as newly named captain Karin Burger puts it, \u201clots of mess going around in people\u2019s heads\u201d as the team grappled with the abrupt decision to stand down Taurua and her wider coaching team.<\/p>\n

In the face of external pressure, cracks began to appear within the team towards the end of the series.<\/p>\n

After the Ferns\u2019 last-gasp victory over the Proteas in the final test, which secured New Zealand a 3-0 clean sweep, star goal shoot Grace Nweke took the opportunity during the on-court presentation to issue a plea for Taurua\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

The move divided the netball community, with some hailing the young shooter\u2019s decision to speak out as \u201cbrave\u201d, while others questioned whether it was fair of her to pass off her personal views as the collective wishes of the group.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio and coach Dame Noeline Taurua with the Constellation Cup in 2021. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Nweke was not available for interviews at this week\u2019s media session. It is not clear if this was her decision or Netball NZ\u2019s.<\/p>\n

However, Burger says the tensions in the team have been addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are going to have different opinions depending on the experiences they\u2019ve had, and just because I have one opinion doesn\u2019t mean I can put down someone else\u2019s opinion,\u201d the 32-year-old defender says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve got to a really good point this week that we\u2019ve left what was said and done in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liana Leota, who alongside Yvette McCausland has answered the SOS call to lead the Ferns in a caretaker role for the next two series, says it took raw and honest conversations to allow the team to \u201cmove forward in alignment\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had tears, you know, we\u2019ve had those hard, tough conversations with each other, but I think what that has done is galvanise them more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defensive great brought in to help<\/p>\n

Tracey Fear, another new face on the sideline, says the \u201cunifying force\u201d is the black dress.<\/p>\n

The Ferns\u2019 defensive great, who has been brought into the programme as a high-performance consultant and to offer extra support to the players, says it has been difficult to watch the players have to navigate the off-court challenges facing them over the past month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the really heartening part that I\u2019ve seen is these players\u2019 resilience and the ability to unite in the black dress,\u201d Fear says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve seen over the last few days in camp is they\u2019ve really taken that step up in intensity, because they know Australia will be a huge challenge and they don\u2019t want to be distracted from that challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SilverSilver Ferns great Tracey Fear talks with high-performance director Stephen Hotter during a training session. Photo \/ Nick Monro \/ RNZ<\/p>\n

Having clarity on what the programme looks like for the next seven weeks has also been a settling influence on the team, according to Burger and her vice-captain Kelly Jackson.<\/p>\n

McCausland-Durie and Leota, who guided the Ferns to a 3-0 win over South Africa last month, agreed to take the reins once more for Constellation Cup and the November tour to Britain<\/a> \u2013 though both are clear they are a short-term fix.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that we know what the next couple of months are going to look like and we\u2019ve also put a line in the sand to know what the leadership\u2019s going to look like has been really helpful,\u201d says Burger, who was among three \u201crotating\u201d captains used in last month\u2019s series.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives us that mental certainty and that\u2019s now being able to be reflected physically as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

But amid the talk of a newfound resolve in the team, there remains a sense of impermanence to it all.<\/p>\n

The team dynamic will be truly put to the test when they come under pressure from Australia.<\/p>\n

The Ferns claimed a historic 3-1 victory in the Constellation Cup last year, trampling the world champions by as many as 19 goals in one test.<\/p>\n

Amid the simmering broth of grievances and agendas playing out in the wider netball community, the Ferns\u2019 results against Australia, and later England, will likely be weaponised.<\/p>\n

Burger says the only thing her side can do is shut out the external noise and focus on themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t control [other people\u2019s opinions] and the information that\u2019s put out there obviously will shape those opinions and we can\u2019t control that either. What we can control is what we do here,\u201d Burger says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if we go into a series and we don\u2019t perform, that\u2019s creating way more scrutiny on us than what we currently have already. So we need to control what we can and we need to be able to go perform out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Ferns‘ programme has been embroiled in turmoil for the past month since Netball New Zealand made the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[806,10040,49722,13982,1741,49781,56955,10541,2944,49782,16762,111,139,69,7457,213,223,61],"class_list":["post-72038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-as","tag-camp","tag-coaching","tag-continues","tag-controversy","tag-dana","tag-echo","tag-ferns","tag-inside","tag-johannsen","tag-netball","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-silver","tag-sports","tag-the","tag-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72038","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=72038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}