Nathan Limm: NZ Herald sports journalist on his exposure of the 'toxic' culture impacting Netball NZ
October 30, 2025 • 9 mins
The New Zealand Herald recently released a report into Netball NZ's 'toxic' workplace environment.
It detailed claims made by as many as six current and former staff members who have discussed a challenging and secretive workplace culture.
The article was written by Nathan Limm and he joined D'Arcy to discuss further.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk Zed be.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Fast before a piece and head in Herald. It's all
the light of day this morning, looking at the work environment,
the less than ideal, so may say, toxic work environment
at Netball New Zealand. He's heid on hell sports journalists
Nathan him Limb. Nathan Limb loves his netball, follows it.
(00:34):
He's been following it as long as I can remember,
and he likes to dig in deep. He's got a
lot of people that trust him, that talk to him,
release names. But hey, you understand, we're going to talk
to Nathan now about this article talking about the reports
from as many as six current and former staff members
who've discussed a challenging, secretive workplace culture that just doesn't work.
(00:59):
There's so much detail in the article. You be again
have a read. So let's talk to the man who
penned its. His name is Nathan Lemmy joins us now.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Good evening, Nathan evening, Darcy plezzure to be on.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
And great to have you on. This just keeps getting legs.
I did an editorial piece yesterday on the podcast saying
don't put your popcorn down. There is no way this
has finished. They've basically paused proceedings have netborn New Zealand.
That was until your story came out today around the
breakdown in culture within Netball New Zealand. This is sensational reading.
(01:36):
It's scary reading for netball and Z. Did it surprise
you with the amount of people you've managed to actually
contact and talk to and get their stories out of well.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
The content of what they actually told me about the
workplace culture and about the decision making processes and about
the leadership.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
To be honest, that.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
What they said to me didn't surprise me based off
what we've seen from the outside in the way they
handle different issues such as the broadcast deal drama and
such as the standing down of Dame Nolean Toto that
all made What surprised me, I suppose was the willingness
and the almost urgency that came with the staff members.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
They really wanted this story.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Out there, and they've been you know, I've been in
contact with them since talking to them, and as the
story sort of getting developed, has taken a while to
get the story out into the public, and all of
the people I talked to really want the story out there.
They want this story told. They want the public to
know the kind of culture that is going on at Netburne,
New Zealand, and they have called for leadership changes.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
All of your insiders, no one wants to be identified.
Where does that come from? What kind of hold does
net Bull New Zealand have on these people? What's the
fear here? Why won't they say, Hey, that's me xxx
and I'm telling you my story.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Well, what they talked about and they talked about what
it's like to work in Nepbull, New Zealand. They talked
about quote, a culture of fair where people are afraid
to speak up and stand out and make problems known
because they of fear that they will be therefore mistreated
and in a way sort of pushed out of the environment.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
And maybe subtle ways in the way that they're treated.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
So one hundred percent, there is this fear among staff,
current and former of Netball New Zealander. It has taken
me a while to get to this point where I've
got this many people who are willing to talk to me,
even off the record with their names out of it.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
But they definitely want the story out there.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
But there is a lot of fear about being attached
to it and what that could mean for their relationships
and the way things work within Netball New Zealand. One
of the things they sort of a few of them
talked about was this sort of culture of secrets. A
lot of them were getting their news through the media,
So when people like me were prince stories in the
New Zealand Herald, that's how they'd learned what was going
(03:54):
on with Netball New Zealand because within the organization they
weren't getting that information passed down from senior leadership, and
in regards to the broadcast deal, they didn't actually know
what was going on. Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
And I think one of the best takeouts from the
story in zidher dot co dot NZ here it understands
twenty two of inan z's forty three staff members have
left over the past two years, including eleven in the
past twelve months. Now, that screams it's more on a
red flag. It's a red flag and a red pole.
Something's not something's a mess.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yeah, I mean, we do have a factor.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
And they did go through a restructure, so some people's
jobs were lost through that, but only a small percentage,
only a small number of people actually were made redundant,
but people were sort of I guess the words that
were used were sort of pushed out right. But as
some of these people they got better opportunities elsewhere and
they're genuinely happy. But what was clear is that there
was definitely an effect on the mental and physical health
(04:51):
of the staff given the workplace culture. One of the
sources talked about having to work sort of seventy hour
weeks and not getting any help and eventually they left
the organization because it was just bad for their health.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
And the quote was this.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Is rather dramatic that the quote was, I'd rather not die,
so I'll depart the job.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Ironic, isn't it that Dame Noline Todeua came under the
spotlight because some athletes said they didn't feel safe in
the environ And here we go again. But it's not
just the players, it's the entire staff. Now, if you
take one look at that, you go, well, hold on,
there's something rotten in the state of Denmark. Where does
this stop? And how does this stop? How do they
(05:34):
couterize this? They tornic this bleeding because it's awful for
the sport.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
It is awful and it's embarrassing to be honest, for
people who are really involved in the sport and have
put a lot of their lives into netball and are
so passionate about the sport because there are so many
people who just love it in New zeal we've seen
that and the support for the Silver fans over the
last couple of tests that they've played. But in terms
of how does it stop, I mean, the people that
I talked to throughout this process, they almost all of
(06:02):
them said that they needed to be leadership changed. The
culture is set by the people at the top and
it filters down. So they're calling for leadership changes and
they've spoken about, you know, the board and the Senior
Leadership team. Interestingly, the nele's going to have removed the
Senior Leadership Team page on the NZ website, so if
(06:23):
you go and click on the leadership page, it'll just
redirect you to the homepage. They've actually taken that down
so that their names are not up there, and they
did that about six weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, I remember that producer Corbyn Boyd Goes. He looked
it up and said, Dars, it's gone on my a.
It has been taken off, So it's almost untenable, isn't
it the CEO, the chair of the board. I don't
know who has to carry the can for this, but
it can't go on in the same vein. It's just
(06:53):
not possible. I think you'd been mad if you think
that new Zella Netbule is allowed to keep this going on.
I can complain or disagree all they want, but the
simple picture here is it's not a good one and
someone's got to carry the can, and it has to
start with the leadership, doesn't it.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Well, that's the problem with this whole Dame No l
in total versus the players kind of process that's been
going on is that basically there's no accountability. The players
haven't gone and said I'm sorry, we shouldn't have complained.
Knowles hasn't stood up and said I'm sorry, I shouldn't
have done whatever it was, And the leadership haven't said sorry,
we mismanaged this basically and we've made a mistake. They
(07:32):
sort of apologize indirectly in that statement that they released,
But that's the frustrating thing is that actually there is
no accountability for this whole drama, and this whole drama
with Knowle's getting stood down.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
This is just the latest one.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
It's been two years of turbulence for netball New zeal
as they battled to secure broadcast steels.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
A one year broadcast deal was.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Introduced to this year, and then they had another battle
to secure one for next year. They're going to have
the same scenario in twenty twenty six because there's no
broadcast deal for twenty twenty seven. So this is a
problem that is continuing to repeat if you add that
in add that in with I guess the players going
overseas and that sort of drama and the controversy around that.
This is an I suppose a sport that is really
(08:13):
struggling in New zeal And. It always seems to be
involved in some sort of turmoil. And when I'll point
out that when a sports team fails, the coach is
held accountable, right the lead. That's what being a leader
is is you are held accountable for the way your
team has run and the results that your team produces.
And in this scenario, it is an NZ that needs
to take responsibility.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
And your thoughts around Dame no Lean because you look
at it and you go, well, she said you'll be
back started next year. I don't see how Nolan Todua
can coach the Silver Ferns team again with the current
board and the current CEO. That would just not work.
So something's got to give. And I think maybe it's
(08:55):
been just plasted over temporarily and this has not been
solved between them and all of the parties involved.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
That's exactly the impression of Darcy with it, because they
made the announcement saying Nles is back, but she's actually
not back.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
She's not back until next year. They made the.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Announcement saying that we have agreed to changes in the
high performance environment, but when I spoke to Matt One
around Jenny Wiley over the weekend, neither of them were
able to tell me any specifics of what changes they'd implemented.
So it's almost like, actually, nothing's been resolved. They said, oh,
we'll work it out between now and Christmas, so they
haven't resolved what changes they're going to bring into the
(09:33):
environment and Knowles isn't back, So it feels to me like,
like you said, a plaster it is sort of buying time,
buying a few months to try and sort this out.
So I don't think you know priorly from the outside,
it doesn't look to me like they've actually resolved the issue.
They've kind of made an announcement without without having actually
followed through on what the announcement kind of implies that
(09:54):
they've done.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talk
sa'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk Zed be.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Fast before a piece and head in Herald. It's all
the light of day this morning, looking at the work environment,
the less than ideal, so may say, toxic work environment
at Netball New Zealand. He's heid on hell sports journalists
Nathan him Limb. Nathan Limb loves his netball, follows it.
(00:34):
He's been following it as long as I can remember,
and he likes to dig in deep. He's got a
lot of people that trust him, that talk to him,
release names. But hey, you understand, we're going to talk
to Nathan now about this article talking about the reports
from as many as six current and former staff members
who've discussed a challenging, secretive workplace culture that just doesn't work.
(00:59):
There's so much detail in the article. You be again
have a read. So let's talk to the man who
penned its. His name is Nathan Lemmy joins us now.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Good evening, Nathan evening, Darcy plezzure to be on.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
And great to have you on. This just keeps getting legs.
I did an editorial piece yesterday on the podcast saying
don't put your popcorn down. There is no way this
has finished. They've basically paused proceedings have netborn New Zealand.
That was until your story came out today around the
breakdown in culture within Netball New Zealand. This is sensational reading.
(01:36):
It's scary reading for netball and Z. Did it surprise
you with the amount of people you've managed to actually
contact and talk to and get their stories out of well.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
The content of what they actually told me about the
workplace culture and about the decision making processes and about
the leadership.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
To be honest, that.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
What they said to me didn't surprise me based off
what we've seen from the outside in the way they
handle different issues such as the broadcast deal drama and
such as the standing down of Dame Nolean Toto that
all made What surprised me, I suppose was the willingness
and the almost urgency that came with the staff members.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
They really wanted this story.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Out there, and they've been you know, I've been in
contact with them since talking to them, and as the
story sort of getting developed, has taken a while to
get the story out into the public, and all of
the people I talked to really want the story out there.
They want this story told. They want the public to
know the kind of culture that is going on at Netburne,
New Zealand, and they have called for leadership changes.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
All of your insiders, no one wants to be identified.
Where does that come from? What kind of hold does
net Bull New Zealand have on these people? What's the
fear here? Why won't they say, Hey, that's me xxx
and I'm telling you my story.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Well, what they talked about and they talked about what
it's like to work in Nepbull, New Zealand. They talked
about quote, a culture of fair where people are afraid
to speak up and stand out and make problems known
because they of fear that they will be therefore mistreated
and in a way sort of pushed out of the environment.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
And maybe subtle ways in the way that they're treated.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
So one hundred percent, there is this fear among staff,
current and former of Netball New Zealander. It has taken
me a while to get to this point where I've
got this many people who are willing to talk to me,
even off the record with their names out of it.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
But they definitely want the story out there.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
But there is a lot of fear about being attached
to it and what that could mean for their relationships
and the way things work within Netball New Zealand. One
of the things they sort of a few of them
talked about was this sort of culture of secrets. A
lot of them were getting their news through the media,
So when people like me were prince stories in the
New Zealand Herald, that's how they'd learned what was going
(03:54):
on with Netball New Zealand because within the organization they
weren't getting that information passed down from senior leadership, and
in regards to the broadcast deal, they didn't actually know
what was going on. Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
And I think one of the best takeouts from the
story in zidher dot co dot NZ here it understands
twenty two of inan z's forty three staff members have
left over the past two years, including eleven in the
past twelve months. Now, that screams it's more on a
red flag. It's a red flag and a red pole.
Something's not something's a mess.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yeah, I mean, we do have a factor.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
And they did go through a restructure, so some people's
jobs were lost through that, but only a small percentage,
only a small number of people actually were made redundant,
but people were sort of I guess the words that
were used were sort of pushed out right. But as
some of these people they got better opportunities elsewhere and
they're genuinely happy. But what was clear is that there
was definitely an effect on the mental and physical health
(04:51):
of the staff given the workplace culture. One of the
sources talked about having to work sort of seventy hour
weeks and not getting any help and eventually they left
the organization because it was just bad for their health.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
And the quote was this.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Is rather dramatic that the quote was, I'd rather not die,
so I'll depart the job.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Ironic, isn't it that Dame Noline Todeua came under the
spotlight because some athletes said they didn't feel safe in
the environ And here we go again. But it's not
just the players, it's the entire staff. Now, if you
take one look at that, you go, well, hold on,
there's something rotten in the state of Denmark. Where does
this stop? And how does this stop? How do they
(05:34):
couterize this? They tornic this bleeding because it's awful for
the sport.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
It is awful and it's embarrassing to be honest, for
people who are really involved in the sport and have
put a lot of their lives into netball and are
so passionate about the sport because there are so many
people who just love it in New zeal we've seen
that and the support for the Silver fans over the
last couple of tests that they've played. But in terms
of how does it stop, I mean, the people that
I talked to throughout this process, they almost all of
(06:02):
them said that they needed to be leadership changed. The
culture is set by the people at the top and
it filters down. So they're calling for leadership changes and
they've spoken about, you know, the board and the Senior
Leadership team. Interestingly, the nele's going to have removed the
Senior Leadership Team page on the NZ website, so if
(06:23):
you go and click on the leadership page, it'll just
redirect you to the homepage. They've actually taken that down
so that their names are not up there, and they
did that about six weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, I remember that producer Corbyn Boyd Goes. He looked
it up and said, Dars, it's gone on my a.
It has been taken off, So it's almost untenable, isn't
it the CEO, the chair of the board. I don't
know who has to carry the can for this, but
it can't go on in the same vein. It's just
(06:53):
not possible. I think you'd been mad if you think
that new Zella Netbule is allowed to keep this going on.
I can complain or disagree all they want, but the
simple picture here is it's not a good one and
someone's got to carry the can, and it has to
start with the leadership, doesn't it.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Well, that's the problem with this whole Dame No l
in total versus the players kind of process that's been
going on is that basically there's no accountability. The players
haven't gone and said I'm sorry, we shouldn't have complained.
Knowles hasn't stood up and said I'm sorry, I shouldn't
have done whatever it was, And the leadership haven't said sorry,
we mismanaged this basically and we've made a mistake. They
(07:32):
sort of apologize indirectly in that statement that they released,
But that's the frustrating thing is that actually there is
no accountability for this whole drama, and this whole drama
with Knowle's getting stood down.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
This is just the latest one.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
It's been two years of turbulence for netball New zeal
as they battled to secure broadcast steels.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
A one year broadcast deal was.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Introduced to this year, and then they had another battle
to secure one for next year. They're going to have
the same scenario in twenty twenty six because there's no
broadcast deal for twenty twenty seven. So this is a
problem that is continuing to repeat if you add that
in add that in with I guess the players going
overseas and that sort of drama and the controversy around that.
This is an I suppose a sport that is really
(08:13):
struggling in New zeal And. It always seems to be
involved in some sort of turmoil. And when I'll point
out that when a sports team fails, the coach is
held accountable, right the lead. That's what being a leader
is is you are held accountable for the way your
team has run and the results that your team produces.
And in this scenario, it is an NZ that needs
to take responsibility.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
And your thoughts around Dame no Lean because you look
at it and you go, well, she said you'll be
back started next year. I don't see how Nolan Todua
can coach the Silver Ferns team again with the current
board and the current CEO. That would just not work.
So something's got to give. And I think maybe it's
(08:55):
been just plasted over temporarily and this has not been
solved between them and all of the parties involved.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
That's exactly the impression of Darcy with it, because they
made the announcement saying Nles is back, but she's actually
not back.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
She's not back until next year. They made the.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Announcement saying that we have agreed to changes in the
high performance environment, but when I spoke to Matt One
around Jenny Wiley over the weekend, neither of them were
able to tell me any specifics of what changes they'd implemented.
So it's almost like, actually, nothing's been resolved. They said, oh,
we'll work it out between now and Christmas, so they
haven't resolved what changes they're going to bring into the
(09:33):
environment and Knowles isn't back, So it feels to me like,
like you said, a plaster it is sort of buying time,
buying a few months to try and sort this out.
So I don't think you know priorly from the outside,
it doesn't look to me like they've actually resolved the issue.
They've kind of made an announcement without without having actually
followed through on what the announcement kind of implies that
(09:54):
they've done.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talk
sa'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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