Silver Ferns shooter Grace Nweke sticks to her guns over coaching saga plea

Wednesday, 15 October 2025

Netball New Zealand (NNZ) administrators would be wrong if they thought Grace Nweke would back down from the emotional plea she issued last month.

The Silver Ferns shooter stands by her call in the aftermath of New Zealand’s nail-biting win over South Africa last month, when she pleaded for absent coach Dame Noeline Taurua to return.

“Noels if you’re listening, we love you and we miss you and we want you back here.”

It’s understood NNZ wasn’t impressed, instructing players to remain tight-lipped on the coaching saga engulfing the sport since Taurua was controversially stood down ahead of the three-match series against South Africa last month.

However, Nweke replied in the affirmative when asked on Tuesday if she stood by her words.

“Yeah, absolutely. I think if I had to do it over, I would choose my words a bit more selectively. But reflecting, I don’t regret what I said and I am confident to feel strongly by my position. But also fully back my team and the girls here and the job to do,” she said.

“I can’t change the result, and the mediations and what is going on, but I know we have the full support of Netball New Zealand and a shared view and connection in our playing group. We want to succeed and perform well in this series, and I feel like that unity is what will guide us going forward.”

Nweke was speaking to reporters in Auckland before the Silver Ferns departed for Australia ahead of the opening test of the Constellation Cup, against Australia in Melbourne on Friday night.

Under Taurua’s watch, the Silver Ferns won the Constellation Cup last year for the first time since 2021.

Now, they’re preparing to defend their title with interim coach Yvette McCausland-Durie after extensive meetings were unable to resolve the coaching dilemma.

“So important, one of our values in the Ferns is united. And if we aren’t united then we can’t succeed,” Nweke said of the team sticking together.

“Reflecting on the [Constellation Cup] last year, it was hard enough to win as is with a pretty standard training and playing environment, with no outside noise or drama, as you might put it.

“So it’s definitely going to be a new challenge for us with all that’s going on, to kind of compartmentalise even more so and kind of drop that and really focus on where we are in that moment and who we have got.

“There is a lot of buy in and belief and motivation to do the job. We know what it takes, we have been there before, so it’s an exciting opportunity for us to show some resilience, some mental fortitude and really band together for this series.”

Nweke standing by her words follows former Silver Ferns selector Gail Parata coming out swinging, stating Taurua was the only coach capable of leading the national side and that “heads need to roll” over her suspension.

Parata resigned in the wake of Taurua and her coaching staff being stood down for the series against South Africa, after a review was launched into the team’s environment.

RNZ has reported that some players felt the environment within the Silver Ferns camp was 'psychologically unsafe'.

But Parata believes the review process that NNZ undertook was flawed.

'There are 31 people in the Silver Ferns environment including athletes and management, they only spoke to five Silver Ferns and two junior Silver Ferns so there's a whole lot of people that got missed out, never knew that the process was going on, they went behind Dame Noeline's back.'