October 28, 2025 • 10 mins
After a long 7 weeks the Dame Noeline coaching saga has come to an end, with Netball NZ announcing over the weekend that the beloved coach will be returning to the helm as the Silver Ferns head coach next year.
Adam caught with former Silver Ferns coach Yvonne Willering to discuss.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from Newstalk z EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
First tonight, Netball and do we have a resolution in
the damning saga of Dame Noling Todoer's position as Silver
Ferns coach. After some murmurings started coming through on Friday,
the confirmation came through from Netball New Zealand over the
weekend that toto is two much stand down will be
over after the team's Northern tour next month and she'll
(00:33):
be back at the helm. Netborn New Zealand says her
reinstatement will come alongside some quote revised operations within the
high performance environment and the changes that will be worked
through with Totoer. What these changes are specifically are yet
to be properly revealed. So what to make of all this?
To break it down, former Silver Ferns coach Yvonne Willering
(00:55):
is with me this evening. Yvonne, thanks for your time
as always here on news talks 'd be and I'm
sure this news came as a surprise to many over
the weekend. For you, at what point did it become
clear that this was going to be the outcome of
all of this.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
It wasn't clear at all when I found out really
that at the Northern Tour they were still going to
have their interim coaches. You know, I questioned then just
where exactly Dame Nolin Tarruo was going to be standing
in the in the whole equation. So it actually came
as a bit of a surprise to me as well.
Probably knew a little bit more on the Friday before
(01:31):
it actually came out, but again I certainly didn't know
as of a factual outcome.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
There has been a standoff here pretty much who's had
to budge the most? Do you think for both her
and yippor New Zealand to get on the same page.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I don't think it's finished and that's what I think
the whole thing's now about. And certainly there has to
have been given and take. You know, it was a situation.
You look at it and you go, why was the announcement
made when it was made? And I think certainly it
was government public pressure and we all knew that the
Ferns weren't doing well, and so even the pressure and
(02:07):
I think both Parli's probably had had enough of all
the negotiations. But having said that, you know, they are
still ongoing because one of the reasons they indicated that
day Nolie Torre wasn't going to go on that Northern
tour is because there were lots of things still to
sort out. They spoke about the high performance environment, they
(02:27):
speak about strengthening the voice of the players. So now
it's a situation how are they going to do that?
And I guess one of the things that they will
be doing is having some different personnel involved. Having said that,
I find that interesting because I'm going surely I would
have thought that they had sufficient people on board as
(02:48):
it was. They had up to nine people at different
times on board and Silver Fern's camp, and you know,
and that's why I'm saying, you know, this problem occurred
in the January camp, and I'm thinking, between all those people,
between all the players, how come whatever the problem was,
how come they couldn't been overcome in that time. So
I think there are still some sorting out to be done,
(03:11):
obviously to prevent this from ever happening again.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Do you think we'll ever hear the specifics of what
these player concerns were about, or will we even know
exactly how unfaced, unsafe knit Born New Zealand thought this
environment was back then.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
No, I don't think so, and I think that's one
of the reasons why it's taken so long. And I
question whether Dan Noel in Tarua in fact even knows
exactly what's going down. And I think that's been part
of the frustrating thing for her, because how can you
address something when you don't actually know exactly what's going
down and it's you know, it's it's it's. Yeah. It's
(03:47):
been a very trying experience and that's why it is
going to be very interesting to see how they are
going to address issues to prevent I guess, thanks for
folks happening again, but also to give confidence who the
players concerned, who actually, you know, I made whatever allegations
that you know, they's now a safe environment and yeah,
(04:08):
I question what exactly they mean by a safe environment anyway,
and appreciate and I know it's you know, there's a
lot of concern for players, but surely it should be
about absolutely everyone involved, and surely it should also be
about proticting the coach. And I question now how she
comes back into it, because I believe she has to
(04:32):
remain true to herself. She has to keep her philosophies.
They must stay the same. But she must be going
into this thinking, you know, while she doesn't want to
go into this always questioning what she is doing and
the actions that she's doing. And that's where I think,
you know, some honesty has to come into it.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah. So the boards, even as late as today, has
used these words revised operations within the high performance environment.
What kind of dynamic does this create when you've got
a board, a governance board, telling a World Cup winning
coach what they need to do to enhance the high
performance environment.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah, yeah, and exactly. I find that interesting because you know,
she doesn't do all these programs all by herself. There's
also high performance manager that's involved from Nepal mu zeal
You know, you've got your strength and conditioning coach, You've
got everyone else involved as well. She has three coaches.
There's three coaches that were on board, you know, and
between them, she's not that domin as a coach that
(05:28):
everything has actually done exactly her way. So that's what
I'm saying. It's going to be interesting and all. It
was going to be interesting to see exactly what changes
are being made because that may give us some clue
as to in fact what the problem was in the
first place.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
What have you heard in regards to her coaching staff,
who were also suspended last month possibly returning.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, I haven't heard anything about that. I mean, I
think the whole focus has been on Dame nolentaal Ruler.
And I said right from the start, surely it wasn't
just about her because it went don't forget initially it
was an environmental issue, which means it wasn't just about
one person. It was about a collective I guess problem.
And yet you know the total focus was on her.
(06:13):
Although having said that, all three were still down. Now
if it was just namely Noline Tahua I did indicate earlier,
then why did dev Fuller as the assistant coach then
not take over? But what we ended up with having
interim coaches and they are also going through to the
northern tours. So again I think there is still a
(06:34):
lot of problem solving to be undertaken. I just hope
that there's some honest conversations and that everyone is prepared
to move forward.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Do you think they will?
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Well, no, taking this job on board again, that would
not have been easy for her. I mean, she's gone
for a hard time, you know, and she's been questioned
and you just indicated that as well with regards to
her high performance program. So she's now looking at herself,
going and do I still believe in everything that I'm doing?
And the answer obviously is yes. She still has a
(07:08):
tremendous passion for the sport. She wouldn't have carried on
coming through all this time and well in a way
fighting the battles, and you know, it could not have
been easy for her because she hasn't had a lot
of support. But I think one of the hardest things
for her has been the fact that she has been silent.
And I know she's had to do that because of
(07:29):
lawyers and for different circumstances. But I do hope that
at some stage she gets to have a say rather
than all of us outside people. And when she has
a say, I don't mean that in a negative frame.
In part certainly a learning fluence the path. I don't
believe we could just leave it behind. I think that's certainly,
you know, shees still have to be addressed. We have
(07:51):
to learn from what's happened and before we can actually
move forward. And again, the results of the silver Ferns themselves.
And I know we've got a Consolation Cup coming up
the last game, but that in alone isn't going to
make us move forward.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, did the win do you think come as any
results of the news the players started to hear leading
up to that game?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Oh yeah, I've heard that and as much as yeah,
you can say absolutely, But listen, would we be having
this conversation if the team in fact had lost that game,
then we probably would have said, well, the timing was
bad doing it in the middle of Consolation Cup, so
who knows. I mean, I also think give the player
some credit. It was a situation. Remember in the first
(08:35):
two tests, yes, we lost by seventeen goals, but really,
I mean the sawn Ferns they imploded in one of
the quarters in each though it was in the last
quarter in the first test and the third I think
in the second test, and what happened in the third test,
Australia went down what's something like twenty two eleven in
that third quarter, so it's going to be a really
(08:56):
interesting fourth test. The silver Ferns showed what they were
capable of. Australia didn't play at the best, so let's
see what the fourth Test brings and then I'll to
know whether Dame Lollin Turi has had any influence or not.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
It's been a crazy old year for the sport, hasn't it.
How much damage has been done? You know? I guess
not just with with everything we went through with the
players heading to Australia, with the future for the A
and Z Championship, but now this how much how much
of a bridge needs to be connected between the fans
and the sports, do you think?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Yeah, I think damage has been done. The moment that
for this, for this thing with Dame Montar, the moment
this became public knowledge, the moment went out there and
it wasn't resolved. You know that that damaged the sport
in its own right. And yes, we've had issues throughout
with the broadcast deals and players. Now you know Grayson
(09:50):
Wicki coming back and opening the door for players to
go to Australia. Potentially, well not potentially, it will weaken
our league, why because our top players will be going
over there and again we're still going to have only
two rounds. But the only good thing about next year,
obviously the Commonwealth Games is coming there. Yes, estamished our sport.
(10:12):
It is time to learn from that. We have to
move forward. And I know you can say, oh, look,
you know, our grassroots nipple is really good, our domestic competition,
competition is really good, age group is really good. And
that's all fine, but some are the long line. Surely.
It is also the focus on high performance, and it
(10:35):
is also about our netble public and they are smart
people and so they know what's going down, and yet
they want to see results. And we're all very proud
of our sport and we want to see it do well.
And I'm sure that everyone will do their best to
ensure we're back on the right path.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
For more from Sports Talk, listen Lived and News Talks.
There'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from Newstalk z EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
First tonight, Netball and do we have a resolution in
the damning saga of Dame Noling Todoer's position as Silver
Ferns coach. After some murmurings started coming through on Friday,
the confirmation came through from Netball New Zealand over the
weekend that toto is two much stand down will be
over after the team's Northern tour next month and she'll
(00:33):
be back at the helm. Netborn New Zealand says her
reinstatement will come alongside some quote revised operations within the
high performance environment and the changes that will be worked
through with Totoer. What these changes are specifically are yet
to be properly revealed. So what to make of all this?
To break it down, former Silver Ferns coach Yvonne Willering
(00:55):
is with me this evening. Yvonne, thanks for your time
as always here on news talks 'd be and I'm
sure this news came as a surprise to many over
the weekend. For you, at what point did it become
clear that this was going to be the outcome of
all of this.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
It wasn't clear at all when I found out really
that at the Northern Tour they were still going to
have their interim coaches. You know, I questioned then just
where exactly Dame Nolin Tarruo was going to be standing
in the in the whole equation. So it actually came
as a bit of a surprise to me as well.
Probably knew a little bit more on the Friday before
(01:31):
it actually came out, but again I certainly didn't know
as of a factual outcome.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
There has been a standoff here pretty much who's had
to budge the most? Do you think for both her
and yippor New Zealand to get on the same page.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I don't think it's finished and that's what I think
the whole thing's now about. And certainly there has to
have been given and take. You know, it was a situation.
You look at it and you go, why was the announcement
made when it was made? And I think certainly it
was government public pressure and we all knew that the
Ferns weren't doing well, and so even the pressure and
(02:07):
I think both Parli's probably had had enough of all
the negotiations. But having said that, you know, they are
still ongoing because one of the reasons they indicated that
day Nolie Torre wasn't going to go on that Northern
tour is because there were lots of things still to
sort out. They spoke about the high performance environment, they
(02:27):
speak about strengthening the voice of the players. So now
it's a situation how are they going to do that?
And I guess one of the things that they will
be doing is having some different personnel involved. Having said that,
I find that interesting because I'm going surely I would
have thought that they had sufficient people on board as
(02:48):
it was. They had up to nine people at different
times on board and Silver Fern's camp, and you know,
and that's why I'm saying, you know, this problem occurred
in the January camp, and I'm thinking, between all those people,
between all the players, how come whatever the problem was,
how come they couldn't been overcome in that time. So
I think there are still some sorting out to be done,
(03:11):
obviously to prevent this from ever happening again.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Do you think we'll ever hear the specifics of what
these player concerns were about, or will we even know
exactly how unfaced, unsafe knit Born New Zealand thought this
environment was back then.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
No, I don't think so, and I think that's one
of the reasons why it's taken so long. And I
question whether Dan Noel in Tarua in fact even knows
exactly what's going down. And I think that's been part
of the frustrating thing for her, because how can you
address something when you don't actually know exactly what's going
down and it's you know, it's it's it's. Yeah. It's
(03:47):
been a very trying experience and that's why it is
going to be very interesting to see how they are
going to address issues to prevent I guess, thanks for
folks happening again, but also to give confidence who the
players concerned, who actually, you know, I made whatever allegations
that you know, they's now a safe environment and yeah,
(04:08):
I question what exactly they mean by a safe environment anyway,
and appreciate and I know it's you know, there's a
lot of concern for players, but surely it should be
about absolutely everyone involved, and surely it should also be
about proticting the coach. And I question now how she
comes back into it, because I believe she has to
(04:32):
remain true to herself. She has to keep her philosophies.
They must stay the same. But she must be going
into this thinking, you know, while she doesn't want to
go into this always questioning what she is doing and
the actions that she's doing. And that's where I think,
you know, some honesty has to come into it.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah. So the boards, even as late as today, has
used these words revised operations within the high performance environment.
What kind of dynamic does this create when you've got
a board, a governance board, telling a World Cup winning
coach what they need to do to enhance the high
performance environment.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah, yeah, and exactly. I find that interesting because you know,
she doesn't do all these programs all by herself. There's
also high performance manager that's involved from Nepal mu zeal
You know, you've got your strength and conditioning coach, You've
got everyone else involved as well. She has three coaches.
There's three coaches that were on board, you know, and
between them, she's not that domin as a coach that
(05:28):
everything has actually done exactly her way. So that's what
I'm saying. It's going to be interesting and all. It
was going to be interesting to see exactly what changes
are being made because that may give us some clue
as to in fact what the problem was in the
first place.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
What have you heard in regards to her coaching staff,
who were also suspended last month possibly returning.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, I haven't heard anything about that. I mean, I
think the whole focus has been on Dame nolentaal Ruler.
And I said right from the start, surely it wasn't
just about her because it went don't forget initially it
was an environmental issue, which means it wasn't just about
one person. It was about a collective I guess problem.
And yet you know the total focus was on her.
(06:13):
Although having said that, all three were still down. Now
if it was just namely Noline Tahua I did indicate earlier,
then why did dev Fuller as the assistant coach then
not take over? But what we ended up with having
interim coaches and they are also going through to the
northern tours. So again I think there is still a
(06:34):
lot of problem solving to be undertaken. I just hope
that there's some honest conversations and that everyone is prepared
to move forward.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Do you think they will?
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Well, no, taking this job on board again, that would
not have been easy for her. I mean, she's gone
for a hard time, you know, and she's been questioned
and you just indicated that as well with regards to
her high performance program. So she's now looking at herself,
going and do I still believe in everything that I'm doing?
And the answer obviously is yes. She still has a
(07:08):
tremendous passion for the sport. She wouldn't have carried on
coming through all this time and well in a way
fighting the battles, and you know, it could not have
been easy for her because she hasn't had a lot
of support. But I think one of the hardest things
for her has been the fact that she has been silent.
And I know she's had to do that because of
(07:29):
lawyers and for different circumstances. But I do hope that
at some stage she gets to have a say rather
than all of us outside people. And when she has
a say, I don't mean that in a negative frame.
In part certainly a learning fluence the path. I don't
believe we could just leave it behind. I think that's certainly,
you know, shees still have to be addressed. We have
(07:51):
to learn from what's happened and before we can actually
move forward. And again, the results of the silver Ferns themselves.
And I know we've got a Consolation Cup coming up
the last game, but that in alone isn't going to
make us move forward.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, did the win do you think come as any
results of the news the players started to hear leading
up to that game?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Oh yeah, I've heard that and as much as yeah,
you can say absolutely, But listen, would we be having
this conversation if the team in fact had lost that game,
then we probably would have said, well, the timing was
bad doing it in the middle of Consolation Cup, so
who knows. I mean, I also think give the player
some credit. It was a situation. Remember in the first
(08:35):
two tests, yes, we lost by seventeen goals, but really,
I mean the sawn Ferns they imploded in one of
the quarters in each though it was in the last
quarter in the first test and the third I think
in the second test, and what happened in the third test,
Australia went down what's something like twenty two eleven in
that third quarter, so it's going to be a really
(08:56):
interesting fourth test. The silver Ferns showed what they were
capable of. Australia didn't play at the best, so let's
see what the fourth Test brings and then I'll to
know whether Dame Lollin Turi has had any influence or not.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
It's been a crazy old year for the sport, hasn't it.
How much damage has been done? You know? I guess
not just with with everything we went through with the
players heading to Australia, with the future for the A
and Z Championship, but now this how much how much
of a bridge needs to be connected between the fans
and the sports, do you think?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Yeah, I think damage has been done. The moment that
for this, for this thing with Dame Montar, the moment
this became public knowledge, the moment went out there and
it wasn't resolved. You know that that damaged the sport
in its own right. And yes, we've had issues throughout
with the broadcast deals and players. Now you know Grayson
(09:50):
Wicki coming back and opening the door for players to
go to Australia. Potentially, well not potentially, it will weaken
our league, why because our top players will be going
over there and again we're still going to have only
two rounds. But the only good thing about next year,
obviously the Commonwealth Games is coming there. Yes, estamished our sport.
(10:12):
It is time to learn from that. We have to
move forward. And I know you can say, oh, look,
you know, our grassroots nipple is really good, our domestic competition,
competition is really good, age group is really good. And
that's all fine, but some are the long line. Surely.
It is also the focus on high performance, and it
(10:35):
is also about our netble public and they are smart
people and so they know what's going down, and yet
they want to see results. And we're all very proud
of our sport and we want to see it do well.
And I'm sure that everyone will do their best to
ensure we're back on the right path.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
For more from Sports Talk, listen Lived and News Talks.
There'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!