Silver Fern Grace Nweke raised eyebrows with a message of support for the suspended coach in a post-match interview on Sky Sport. Photo: screenshot / Sky Sport
Silver Ferns shooter Grace Nweke has for the first time addressed the post-match speech which saw her issue a plea for the return of embattled coach Dame Noeline Taurua.
Taurua and her coaching staff were stood down for the series against South Africa last month, after a review flagged "significant issues" in the team environment.
The issues trace back to a training camp in January, after which two players approached the NZ Netball Players Association on behalf of a larger group of up to seven players, raising concerns about Taurua's leadership and communication style.
The players alleged the environment had become "psychologically unsafe", describing a culture in which some felt fearful of raising issues directly with the head coach.
Nweke made it clear where she stood on the future of Taurua, following the Ferns' final test win over South Africa last month, when she was match captain.
"Noels [Noeline Taurua], if you're listening, we love you and we miss you, and we want you back here," she said during the post-match presentation. "You've done so much for this group and the work you've done this whole year, you deserve to here and we want you back, Noels."
Nweke told RNZ it was important to her to say how she felt but she did not anticipate speaking that candidly.
"It came to me in that moment and I knew that something needed to be said. I felt that the situation was kind of slipping away and there was a lot that we couldn't control and couldn't effect change on.
"I knew that mediation was happening the following week and players were not really encouraged to share their feelings and I can understand why, but I felt that something needed to be said and I think selfishly it was a way for me to frame my piece to then begin to accept where the outcome played out, knowing that I'd been able to at least share how I felt."
Grace Nweke in action for the Silver Ferns against South Africa. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz / Photosport Ltd 2025
Nweke accepted that she was not speaking for the whole team, but believed many of her teammates shared the same view.
"In reflecting on my words, I feel that I should have only spoken for myself and it wasn't right to make a sweeping statement for everyone. But in saying that, I can be confident that that was a shared view by many players."
Did she get some backlash as a result?
"It definitely wasn't a statement that was supported by Netball New Zealand upper management and people who had come in to try and guide the group forward, and that was something I had to deal with that following week and I can understand where they were coming from in terms of the way that creates complexity and challenge for the job they had at hand.
"I did receive a bit of constructive criticism around my words, but I'm taking it on the chin and I would do it again. I can appreciate where they were coming from... but I feel I did the right thing for me and several of my team-mates in that moment."
Despite marathon sessions around the negotiating table, Netball NZ and Taurua did not reconcile their differences and the coach and assistant coaches have been sidelined for the rest of the year.
Nweke said it was hard for players to fathom how the two parties could not find a resolution after so many months.
"We're not lawyers, we're not politicians, we don't usually have to be involved or have a view to understand negotiations and board discussions and I think a lot of us in the leadership space have had to put that hat on and try and do a bit of lobbying and I guess just try and understand how that space works and understand how we are still at a stalemate, when ultimately Netball New Zealand is trying to get the best for us and so is Noeline.
"So wherever the point of contention is, it definitely is complicated and I do think maybe we've lost view of what's really important from time to time and I think ultimately it has come at a cost to the players and to Noeline and that's what's been quite challenging to accept."
Nweke said the dispute had become so much bigger since it became public.
"This thing has massively been blown out of proportion and taken new wings... it's really hurt players that it's come out this publicly and it's hard to see the way forward when the whole country gets to have an opinion.
"It's very unfortunate this has had to play out so publicly right in the midst of an international calendar and I feel that it's just been poorly managed and poorly led, and people and players have become the collateral and I do think Noel sits there too."
(L-R) Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Dame Noeline Taurua, and Grace Nweke after winning the Constellation Cup series last year. Photo: AAP / www.photosport.nz
Yvette McCausland-Durie stepped in last month and has returned as interim coach for the upcoming Constellation Cup series against Australia and November's tour to the UK.
Nweke said going from a coach she knew so well to an interim coaching team had been a big adjustment.
"It all kind of happened in a bit of a blur, like 24 hours notice and you woke up one day and the coaching staff had changed and there was so much evolving in that moment for our group that it was really quite challenging.
"There was an array of emotion around the ins and outs of what had gone on and as more information was shared to us confidentially, it was hard to come to terms with what had led us here and having to accept how we got there.
"But I feel that with time I've been able to come to terms with the changes and make my peace with what's gone on."
Nweke said they were lucky to have McCausland-Durie step in, along with Liana Leota as assistant coach. "Very warm and open and genuine, they have acknowledged the difficulty of the situation."
Nweke said there was a lot of belief in the work Taurua had done and the vision she had for the team as it builds towards next year's Commonwealth Games and the 2027 World Cup.
"To lose that makes things very hard because you have to find new ways to buy-in and find new ways to have faith and believe ...that's a relationship that I'm continuing to build and invest in with both coaches."
The Silver Ferns meet Australia on Friday for the first of four Tests and will be looking to hold on to the Constellation Cup they claimed over their rivals last year.
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