Gail Parata: Former Silver Ferns Selector on the treatment of Dame Noeline Taurua by Netball NZ

Former Silver Ferns selector Gail Parata has rebuked a lack of due process by Netball New Zealand in standing down coach Dame Noeline Taurua and assistant Debbie Fuller. 

The pair have been sidelined after allegations of an unsafe high performance environment, which remain unresolved. 

The issues are understood to date back to a Silver Ferns camp in January. 

Parata resigned as selector last month in a show of support for Taurua, and she told Mike Hosking no formal complaint was lodged. 

She says there’s about 31 people in the Silver Ferns environment, including management and other athletes, and they only spoke to five Silver Ferns and two Junior Silver Ferns. 

“Why did they not speak to everyone? That’s really, really disappointing.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gail Parata and it balls saving grace. She's quit his
national selector and gone out making a number of suggestions
over the way the Nolin Tarusaga has been handled. Gail
Parata is with us.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning, morning mate.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Let's start this really simply your level of concern and
upset at this whole business one. You couldn't give a
monkey's ten. You're apoplectic. Where are you at?

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Well, maybe a safe seven?

Speaker 1 (00:25):
A safe seven. You don't quit because nothing's going wrong.
What led you to speak out the way you have?

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Or absolutely disappointed in the whole process of how our
neckborne news don't come about? With standing day Nolling down,
I believe that day Nolling and debbyfore are the best
coaches to take our Silver Firs team forward. The visionary,
they are, intelligence, the tactical, and smart, all the things
that you need in world class coaches. And so that's

(00:53):
one of the key reasons why I decided to step down.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Did you tell all this to Jinny and Matt?

Speaker 3 (00:59):
No. I just gave them my notice and said that
I was disappointed with the whole process. That's as much
as I said.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
And were they in shock or surprised?

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Well, they were all leave when I get my my
resignation leader in.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
So that's disappointing.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
So can you confirm for us this is simply about
a handful of players that didn't like the way that
Noles runs. The thing is is it that simple?

Speaker 3 (01:22):
That is? Is that simple? There's about thirty one people
in the silver events environment, that's including management and other athletes,
and they spoke to five silver events plus two junior
silver events? You know, why did they not speak to everyone?
So that's really really disappointing.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
So can we say it's seven out of thirty one
who have problems?

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (01:45):
Right, and the problems they have are what just Nol's
who approach is just what a bit aggressive, a bit
over whatever the case may be.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
Is that is well, that's what they're saying. I don't
know that exact part what it is, Like everyone else,
I'm in the dark. But what I can say is
that series against the New South Wales Swiss where we
got Trump wasn't a good look for our national team
and so you've probably deserve to get a bit of
a blast about that.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, but that's that's all it's about. It's about Noel
said we lost and We've got to do better. Let's
pull up our socks, get on with this and work
a bit harder, be a bit fedter, etcetera.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
This is all it's about.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
Absolutely. I believe that it is because I know noleye.
I've been in the civil fans environment many years as
a coach with Nolan and also as the national selector,
and I have never never seen any well. Unsafe is
the word that's been touted that Noley from Nolen at all?

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Is there an environment?

Speaker 1 (02:45):
And this is the value of what you've done, Gail,
because we get an insight because they're not talking. Is
there an environment with a Netball New Zealand at management
level that that's sort of I'm not happy and I'm
unsafe that that sort of talk would be taken on
board and acted upon. Would you have described that as
a place where that happens before this or not?

Speaker 3 (03:06):
I would honestly not know. Mike. Are you talking about
ethnical news Viellas, Yeah, Oh yeah, sorry, No. I suppose
my role has just been as well in that end
where the civil films aren't really so I'm not sure
about that side.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Do you look at a player well from a selector's
point of view, Then do you look at a player's
robustness beyond the court, the ability to pass the ball
and hold their position. Do you look at the mental
so called mental fragility of a player? I mean, is
that an issue?

Speaker 3 (03:34):
Absolutely, absolutely as part of our selections. And you can
read this specially if you have the experience of working
with athletes for years, you do look at that side.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Because the thing that concerns I think a lot of
us is that it's not like no one knows who
Noling Tarua is or what she's about. I mean, she
is one of the most esteemed operators in the sport
and has been for decades. And what is this tell
us about. You can get a couple of young people
upset and suddenly you're on the sideline.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah, and that's why it's very scary to be a
coach right now. I mean, you know, the job is demanding,
often voluntary, for many long hours, and you know that
type of thing can happen to any coach and next
minute they don't have a job again.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, how would you have handled it?

Speaker 3 (04:21):
A view of the boss, Well, they needed to be
due process, they needed to be transparent, fairness, in there
as well. You know, one, they should never have done
a review with five or seven athletes. That was just
wrong right from the beginning. I understand there hasn't been
a formal complaint either, so you know, there's been no

(04:43):
other process to follow really.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
So because the problem with us now, Gail is we've
lost you, We've lost no Lane. How long does this
need to go and how many more people do we
need to lose?

Speaker 3 (04:55):
Well, fortunately it's going to go to the end of
the year because she's been down to then. But yeah, again,
I just think it's a ridiculous decision that Nipple has
made and you know, from five consumed athletes and here
we are.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, so your message to Jinny Wiley and Matt.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
Winner as what, well, they need to reinstate Dave Nolen
and d Befoller so we can get on a you know,
we've been preparing for the last four years for the
Commonwealth Games in the Nipple World Cup. This is now
delaying our process forward for that. The new coaches don't
know the athletes right now, I mean, the brand new
to them, and we're the ones that know exactly what

(05:38):
the athletes can do and what our plan was. So
they need to reinstate day Nolin and Dy before that.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
All right, Gail, appreciate it very much. Girl Parata, there's
an insight a former selector for Knitball New Zealand. For
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