Silver Ferns coaching saga edges toward legal showdown as deadlock remains

The escalating dispute between Netball NZ and Dame Noeline Taurua looks increasingly headed toward a legal resolution as talks between the parties remain deadlocked.

The national body confirmed on Saturday Taurua will be sidelined for the remainder of the 2025 season following failed attempts at mediation this week.

In a statement, Netball NZ said "despite considerable and genuine effort" from the two parties, a resolution regarding the Silver Ferns "high performance programme and environment" had not yet been reached.

"Over the past few weeks, Netball NZ has pursued every pathway with Dame Noeline to bring her back into the Silver Ferns environment at this time."

Lawyer Stacey Shortall, a partner at MinterEllisonRuddWatts, who is acting for Taurua, said her client had engaged openly and constructively with Netball NZ.

"Dame Noeline has acted throughout with integrity and good faith - standing firmly in her mana and remaining true to her values, together with those of the Black Dress," Shortall said in a statement.

"Any lack of agreement has not been the lack of unwillingness on her part to find solutions. Her strong and consistent desire has been, and still is, to resume her role as head coach in service of the Silver Ferns, the full team, and the wider whānau of netball."

When contacted by RNZ both Shortall and Netball NZ boss Jennie Wyllie declined to comment on what the next steps in the process may be, citing confidentiality.

However, according to one employment law expert, the only options now appear to be an employment investigation, carried out by an external party, or the dispute is escalated to the Employment Relations Authority.

The national body in July commissioned former NZ Cricket high performance boss Bryan Stronach to undertake a review of the Silver Ferns environment - the findings and process of which are understood to have been contested by Taurua.

Wellington employment lawyer Andrew Scott-Howman said an employment investigation differed from a cultural review as it required a "binary outcome" in that the complaints were either upheld or dismissed.

"[National sports organisations] tend to wobble when a complaint like this is made and try to avoid taking that binary action," said Scott-Howman, who stressed he had no direct knowledge of the dispute.

"It's my strong suspicion that is what happened here. [Netball NZ] got someone in to look at the culture, then when that didn't work, they went off to mediation to try and get a resolution, and that didn't work, so having exhausted those options, it would seem to me now that [Netball NZ] are, in fact, positively obliged to undertake an investigation."

Scott-Howman said it is possible Taurua may look to raise her own personal grievance through the ERA and seek reinstatement while an investigation was carried out.

Neither option appeared to offer a quick resolution.

Netball NZ confirmed on Saturday that Yvette McCausland-Durie, who oversaw last month's Taini Jamison series victory over South Africa, would remain as interim coach for the Constellation Cup and November tour to the UK, supported by Liana Leota as assistant coach.

Asked if the appointment of the pair for the remainder of the season can be read as the national body not seeing a swift conclusion to matter, Wyllie said: "The players are assembling for camp on Monday and then they have Constellation Cup and northern tours essentially back-to-back, so the critical element there is to give certainty to the players and transparency so that they can focus on the job at hand".

Players association speaks out

Following Saturday's long-awaited update, the New Zealand Netball Players' Association (NZNPA) broke its silence over the coaching saga, clarifying the current process between Taurua and Netball NZ is an "employment matter", and does not involve the players' association.

"Out of respect for both parties in that process, we have not and will not be making any comment on that process," NZNPA executive manager Steph Bond said in a statement.

"This has been a challenging time for all of the players within the Silver Ferns environment. The process has had a very real impact on the team, and the public nature of the situation has added significantly to the pressure they are feeling.

"Like all professional sports teams, players have their own unique perspective on their experiences in the environment."

The players have come under stinging criticism from former players, coaches and the wider netball community for a perceived unwillingness to speak out about their concerns.

Speaking from Singapore during a layover on an international flight, Bond said the players' association have "for a period of time" been raising concerns about the Silver Ferns environment.

She said the issues have been raised respectfully and through the correct channels with the only goal being to improve the culture of the team.

"You always want players questioning the environment and to challenge it. It's a healthy part of a high performance environment and ensuring there is continuous improvement, so you wouldn't want that to ever stop."

Bond said she was unable to go into details of what the issues were, citing the confidential process underway, but it was understood several players had raised concerned about the "psychological safety" of the environment, describing a culture in which athletes were "fearful" of speaking up.

As reported by RNZ last month, Netball NZ in July commissioned Stronach to undertake a review, which highlighted "significant issues" in the Ferns' environment.

The review was funded in part by High Performance Sport NZ (HPSNZ) - the government sport agency of which Taurua was a board member.

Following the completion of Stronach's review, it was understood Netball NZ sought to make changes to the high performance environment ahead of the South Africa series in order to better support athlete welfare.

However, Taurua and her coaching team of Debbie Fuller and Briony Akle, were said to have rejected the findings of the report, and took issue with the limited nature of the process.

In the fallout, the dispute had moved from one of being about a high performance conversation, to an employment conversation.

Bond said there appeared to be a lack of understanding from the general public that as the dispute was playing out in an employment environment, the parties were prevented from speaking out.

"I think given the vacuum of information, because again it is an employment context, people are ill-informed and they will come out and say things based on their own misjudgements about the situation.

"That means we get a situation where a lot of the debate online and publicly is fuelled by misinformation.

"It's been really disappointing to see some of the criticisms and attacks towards the players and they're really hurting and I know they just want this resolved.

"They have been through a lot over the last couple of months and they want a decision, and for this whole process to end."

Further statement

Taurua's legal representatives, Stacey Shortall and employment law partner Megan Richards, issued a further statement on Sunday afternoon, noting they had become aware of public commentary referring to matters "said to have been raised for some time".

"Dame Noeline has not been provided with detail or evidence behind these references, nor given any opportunity to respond to them," Shortall said. "This situation has been personally very difficult for Dame Noeline. She has devoted many years to the Silver Ferns - playing and then coaching with care, integrity and commitment - and deeply values the people and communities connected to the team.

"We must be cautious in what we say publicly, as any statement may be relied upon by Netball NZ in ways that could affect her position. That necessarily limits what can be said at this time."

Shortall added she requested the relevant information urgently, so that "Dame Noeline can properly understand and address" what is being referred to publicly.

The Silver Ferns team for the Constellation Cup, which begins in Melbourne on 17 October, is expected to be named on Monday.

The only expected change to the group was the inclusion of Pulse shooter Amelia Walmsley, who was unavailable for the South African series as she was away with the New Zealand under-21 side at the Youth World Cup.

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