Dame Noeline Taurua: Silver Ferns head coach on what the new eligibility rules mean for the team

Netball New Zealand has updated the eligibility criteria for the Silver Ferns.

Overseas-based players can now be considered for national selection through a formal exemption process.

The updated criteria will be implemented ahead of the upcoming international season, allowing Grace Nweke to be available if she applies.

Silver Ferns head coach Dame Noeline Taurua joined Piney to discuss.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Be confirmation this afternoon that Netball New Zealand has updated
its eligibility criteria for the Silver Ferns. Overseas based players
can now be considered for national selection through what they're
calling a formal exemption process. The updated criteria will be
implemented ahead of the upcoming international season, with three tests

(00:33):
against South Africa and four against Australia at the back
end of the year. That would allow Grace Wecki to
be available if she decides to apply, which you get
the feelings she will. Netball New Zealand board chair Matt
Winnaday says the board listened to those in the game
and recognized the need for a more flexible and responsive approach.

(00:54):
Silver Ferns coach Dame Nolen Toto is with us. You'll
be delighted, Dame Nolen. How pleased are you with this outcome?

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah, I'm really pleased, obviously not only for Grace but
also other player. Is essentially a big move for for
the board. Netwill New Zealand our CEO that was entered
into this space and always right from the start, I've
understood where it all sort of was positioned in regards
to making sure that people feel that they've heard our

(01:24):
players that they want to keep growing and developing in
that space, but also not gutting the A and Z
so to speak. So to get to this place is
awesome for for many parties concerned.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
How hard did you push for this?

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Well, I'm part of the process, I suppose, and the
process that was put together not only with me but
also our HPD I thought was really thorough. It took
all in to you know, a lot of parties in
mind and with our utmost I suppose care of the athlete,

(02:01):
our eye sort of feel. You know, it's like the kids.
You want them to go and then you want them
to come back, you know, So it's not anything different,
and you want to make sure that if they did go,
that they go with an informed choice and they know
exactly what to expect whether they're playing or not, and
what that means. So yeah, I was a part of it.

(02:22):
Put my hand up.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
As you've outlined there there is a balance to be
struck here between giving opportunities to players doing what's best
for them, but also keeping in mind the integrity of
the domestic camp. Is there any danger our domestic camp
might be diluted because our top players now don't have
to play in it to play for New Zealand.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, there's probably two points. One point is we've got
to remember it's not going to be everybody like, it's
not going to be an influx of people that's going
to go over to ECCN. Why is because Australians have
got their own people and they are awesome oving, so
the numbers are only going to be small. So that's
one thing. And the second thing, you know, and it

(03:05):
showed this year we've got some really talented players coming
through and developing players, but all sometimes they need as
an opportunity. And when we look at the Maria in
Mystics and some that we're able to be showing in Stars,
you know when he was injuries, we've got enough talent
to be able to fill those spots. So it creates opportunities.

(03:27):
And I think also we've got to make sure that
our competition is a one.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
So there's a formal exemption process, so presumably a player
makes an application to be exempt. As Silver Fern's coach,
would you expect to be part of the panel that
he has applications like that.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
So what our processes we've pretty much got I suppose
a sheet of questions and between myself and the HPD,
we send those questions through to the athlete. And those
questions could be things around why are they going, what's
the vision, what's their values, what's their skill sets that

(04:07):
they want to learn? Have they done work around what
to expect when they get over there, have they spoken
to their current clubs, have they looked at any other
clubs in New Zealand? What's the contract going to be
for them? And you know, what's the I suppose their
risks and how do they minimize those risks? So that's

(04:28):
pretty much one of the steps. And then what happens is,
depending how that discussion goes, our HPD picks that up
and talks to the clubs, making sure once again that
what the athlete heard is what's going to be in
real life. Then it goes through MZPA for their look
over it, then it goes through to the board. So

(04:48):
there's there at different stages that that application will go
through alongside with obviously the athlete as well.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
So how many players at any one time day Noline
would you expect to have an exemption given to them.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
There's no in my eyes, there's no limit. And why
I would say that is, you know, it's up to
the individual whether they want to go or not. And
to be honest, those discussions since I've been in my
role has always been open. Sometimes people when they go
through our process or they're looking at questions and deciding

(05:26):
that that themselves, they come to their own thoughts that
they don't want to go. So at the moment, it's
a process that people will have to go through if
they want to be eligible, and no numbers have been
put against it.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
Have you spoken to Grace Wiki since this decision has
been made public?

Speaker 3 (05:46):
No, I haven't spoken to her at all, but as
I understand, that will probably have to go through her agent.
But I haven't spoken to her at all.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
She'll apply though surely, surely she'll be the first one
to apply.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
I think there are going to be some athletes, if
I'm going to be honest, and you know it's been
made publicly with certain athletes says too. They have been approached,
and you know that's brilliant for them. They're going through
these questions themselves to make sure that they've got everything
forwarded and some of them will stay and some of
them will put their name forward. So there's got to

(06:22):
be more people than who thinking that I'm really happy
once again is that we've got a clean process. It
takes the biasedness out. It's transparent well to some degree.
But everyone could put their name forward, you know. And
it's not just our Nolan's Nolan's best mates or the
next door the neighbor's best mates. It's opened everybody.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yep. Good integrity, good transparency, very good outcome. Yeah, good
on your Dame Noline. Great to chat as always, thanks
for joining.

Speaker 3 (06:48):
Us, lovely, thank you, bye bye, have a.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
Good night, Dame Nolene. Dame Nolan TOLDO are there. She's
delighted and why wouldn't she be? And open the lines
on this very shortly before we move to Andrew Webster.
I just don't know why this took so long. I
don't know why it took them so long to get
this across the line. This has been talked about for
months now, ever since grace Wiki went to Australia. I
remember getting Matt Winnaday, the chair of the board, on

(07:13):
the radio shortly after that happened and asking him, you know,
would they look at changing the rules and he said, yeah,
we are. We're looking at it. We're looking at it.
What are we now mid July? I guess the Silver
honston't play till September. So there's nothing really lost here.
But I mean there are no losers here. After this determination,
Grace Wiki went to Australia with the express intension of

(07:35):
improving herself as a netballer and testing herself against the
best players in the world, the best defenders. She was
giving herself a different challenge from what she would have
given herself here in New Zealand, simply because the standard
over there is probably higher. Yes, she's getting paid, of
course I'm not naive she's getting paid over there.

Speaker 4 (07:56):
Of course she is.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
But she wanted to go to improve herself. The other
thing I've noticed this afternoon is there seems to be
a rather unusual will desire from the board and its
chair Matt Oneaday to insist that this re examination of the
rules wasn't compelled by Grace Wikis move. Here's what he

(08:19):
said to our sports news team earlier today.

Speaker 4 (08:23):
This is a process that's available to all players, So
you know, Grace a part of the civil fians of MAXI.
But this is certainly not a process that's been created
for that. And the reason it's taken a while is
because we're thinking about the long term, not because we're
thinking about any short term.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Simple fact is, if Grace Wiki hadn't gone to Australia,
this rule wouldn't have changed. It's as simple as that.
She is the catalyst for this. When we look back
on this, we'll call it the Grace workI Rule. That's
what we'll do.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
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