Silver Ferns senior players split on coach Noeline Taurua as Grace Nweke offers public show of support

Tuesday, 30 September 2025

ANALYSIS: Dame Noeline Taurua’s coaching future appears to hinge on a split between senior Silver Ferns players.

Taurua was scheduled to sit down with Netball New Zealand (NNZ) on Tuesday, a meeting which will go a long way to determining whether the decorated coach can carry on in the role, which she has held since August 2018.

With the four-match Constellation Cup series against Australia starting in Melbourne on October 17, time is ticking for NNZ to make a decision. The players head into camp on Monday. Taurua’s fate could be known as soon as Friday.

Instead of guiding the Silver Ferns in their 3-0 Taini Jamison Trophy series win over South Africa last week, Taurua was watching from home in Pukehina Beach in the Bay of Plenty.

Taurua was sensationally stood down 10 days before the series started, stemming back to a training camp in Sydney in January, where a group of players raised serious concerns about her leadership and communication style.

Things got ugly from there and relations could not be mended before the South Africa series.

NNZ was forced to take the drastic step of removing Taurua for the series and bringing in Yvette McCausland-Durie as interim coach with Liana Leota assisting her.

Senior Silver Ferns are divided, The Post understands, as to whether Taurua carries on as head coach.

New Zealand’s best netballer, Grace Nweke, delivered a passionate plea for Taurua to return after Sunday’s last gasp 57-56 win in Invercargill. Nweke, the acting captain for the match, asked if she could take the microphone from the presenter as the post-series presentation concluded.

Nweke made her feelings known, praising Taurua’s impact and how much the coaching saga had impacted the players.

“Going forward Noels, if you're listening, we love you and we miss you and we want you back here. You've done so much for this group and the work you've done this whole year. You deserve to be here and we want you back Noels,” Nweke said on Sky Sport.

Nweke’s comments hammered home her respect and gratitude for Taurua and will not have been lost on the NNZ decision-makers.

Leading Silver Ferns defender Karin Burger is also in the pro-Taurua camp.

Prior to the series, Burger told The Post she did not want to speak for other players, but her interactions with Taurua had only ever been positive.

Burger’s comments carry plenty of weight as the second most tenured and capped player in the current squad outside Kelly Jackson.

Burger made her international debut in Taurua’s first game as Silver Ferns coach in 2018 against England at Auckland’s Spark Arena.

“She’s had amazing success throughout her career and I’ve been a part of those. Definitely have a personal, vested interest with that relationship with her and I’m very big on knowing that everybody who supports me to be the person I am, it’s only rightly so I return that support,” Burger said.

“I can only talk to myself and my own experiences. I can say my experiences have been very positive and good [with Taurua].”

Nweke and Burger have been the only players to speak out in support of Taurua so far.

The Post understands several other senior Silver Ferns are in the anti-Taurua brigade, none who have spoken publicly. Two players acting on behalf of a larger group went to the New Zealand Netball Players’ Association (NZNPA) following the tense Sydney camp, voicing their displeasure with Taurua.

It sparked an independent report, which highlighted significant issues in the Ferns’ environment. Taurua was not made aware of this until after the investigation was completed in June with the complainants assured their identities would remain confidential. She was justifiably seething.

Several top Silver Ferns have made themselves unavailable in recent years, raising questions as to whether they backed Taurua’s coaching methods.

Former captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio made herself unavailable for the rest of the 2025 season in July, citing a desire to spend more time with her young family and have a break from the game. Jane Watson, Maia Wilson, Te Paea Selby-Rickit, and Tiana Metuarau are others to have made themselves unavailable for varying reasons. Metuarau and Wilson would have likely missed selection though, had they been available.

A well-placed source close to the Silver Ferns told The Post this month several steps would need to be met for Taurua to return as head coach.

There had to be backing from the players and NNZ, and an assurance the coaches could carry out their roles properly without outside influences, namely the NZNPA. Whether Taurua even still wants the job given the treatment she has received is unclear. She has politely declined to comment since being stood down.

Friction has been felt between Taurua and her coaching group and the NZNPA, acting on behalf of the players. So much so, players had been sitting out training with a “sniffle” on advice of the NZNPA when the coaches thought they could participate.

Even with Nweke and Burger’s endorsements, Taurua, who is contracted to early next year, faces a major battle to stay on. Unless there is overwhelming approval from the players, she looks to have coached the side for the final time.