Dame Noeline Taurua reinstated as Silver Ferns coach after darkest chapter in NZ netball history

Sunday, 26 October 2025

Dame Noeline Taurua has been reinstated as Silver Ferns coach following a six week coaching saga.

For much of the past six weeks, the prospect of Dame Noeline Taurua guiding the Silver Ferns at next year’s Commonwealth Games looked bleak.

Taurua is set to be on the sideline in Glasgow after being reinstated as national coach on Saturday – ending an ugly 45-day stand-off between the decorated coach and Netball New Zealand (NNZ). It is understood an agreement was finally reached on Friday night between Taurua and NNZ for her to return to the job.

Taurua will officially resume the role in 2026 with interim coach Yvette McCausland-Durie remaining in charge for the rest of the Constellation Cup and November’s Northern tour to minimise disruption to the playing group.

The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July-August is the Ferns’ major pinnacle event next year with the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney following 12 months later.

With Taurua reinstalled as head coach it ends the darkest chapter in New Zealand netball history.

Dame Noeline Taurua speaks to players at a training camp in Auckland in December 2023.

The Taurua coaching feud divided the netball community and and fans across the country.

Seemingly everyone had an opinion with even Prime Minister Christopher Luxon weighing in, saying sometimes employees did not like their boss. Laura Langman, arguably the greatest Silver Fern, roasted NNZ’s treatment of her long-time mentor, describing it as “the saddest decision in New Zealand’s proud netball history”.

Taurua was sensationally stood down on September 10, 11 days before the Taini Jamison Trophy series against South Africa started, stemming back to a training camp in Sydney in January, where a group of players raised concerns about her leadership and communication style.

Dame Noeline Taurua will resume her role as Silver Ferns coach in 2026.

Two players acting on behalf of a larger group went to the New Zealand Netball Players’ Association (NZNPA) following the Sydney camp, voicing their displeasure. It sparked an independent report, which highlighted significant issues in the Ferns’ environment. Former New Zealand Cricket high performance boss Bryan Stronach was commissioned to investigate the players' concerns.

The situation became messier and relations could not be mended before the South Africa series, leaving NNZ with the radical step of removing Taurua as coach.

The Silver Ferns playing group became divided into those who were pro and anti Taurua, with it turning into a witch-hunt to identify those who were against the Netball World Cup-winning coach.

That became evident publicly when match-day captain Grace Nweke delivered a passionate plea speaking on Sky after the final Taini Jamison Trophy test for Taurua to return as coach. It is understood NNZ was not impressed by Nweke’s actions and instructed players to keep quiet on the matter.

Dame Noeline Taurua and former skipper Ameliaranne Ekenasio are all smiles after beating Australia in Auckland last year.

After lengthy recent meetings between Taurua and NNZ, a resolution was finally reached for her to be reinstated as coach, something that seemed improbable over the past six weeks.

That came days after Sports Minister Mark Mitchell called on Sport NZ to accelerate the messy situation, saying it had dragged on too long. But, Sport NZ, the parent organisation of High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ), was not directly able to be involved once it became an employment matter between NNZ and Taurua.

Dame Noeline Taurua and Netball New Zealand finally reached a resolution for her to return as Silver Ferns coach.

“Both parties share a deep commitment to athlete and staff well-being and to ensuring that the high performance culture continues to evolve as necessary,” NNZ said in a statement.

“Together, Netball NZ and Dame Noeline have agreed to implement enhancements to support well-being and performance, including strengthening the player voice. These build on frameworks developed by the parties during recent discussions, with further input from High Performance Sport New Zealand and drawing from the coach and athlete welfare systems successfully employed by other leading codes.”

NNZ stressed it had full confidence in Taurua’s ongoing leadership of the Silver Ferns, noting there was nothing found during the process that called her integrity into question.

Several leading Silver Ferns, including former captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio, made themselves unavailable this year. Ekenasio has stated in interviews she had made herself unavailable to spend more time with family and take a break from the game.

With Taurua returning as head coach and tweaks made to the Ferns’ high performance environment, it will be fascinating to see whether some of those players feature in 2026 or remain sidelined.

“Netball NZ and Dame Noeline will work in partnership to embed the agreed changes and to focus fully on the future — including preparations for the next pinnacle event, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July 2026.

“The process of reflection and improvement will now be wrapped into our normal regular year-end review cycle.”