Netball New Zealand will pull out all the stops to secure the signature of Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua, says CEO Jennie Wyllie, following this week's World Cup win.
Having guided the Silver Ferns to their first World Cup since 2003, Taurua's future is somewhat up in the air. She's yet to re-commit with Netball New Zealand, and to return to the Sunshine Coast Lightning in Australia's Super Netball League.
Speaking to 1 NEWS this afternoon though, Wyllie made it clear that retaining Taurua in any capacity is her organisation's main objective.
"This is a conversation we've been having since day dot with her," Wyllie says.
"In the perfect world, we would have secured her at the outset of our contract negotiations last year.
"She's also been incredibly open and transparent with us that her priority was getting to [the] World Cup, and fulfilling her commitments with Sunshine Coast. I think we need to be respectful of that, and allow her to go back to Australia and do the job that she wants to do there, and when the time is right we will work out what that then looks like going forwards."
Taurua's job with the Lightning will also rule her out of the Ferns' next challenge, taking on Australia once again over four Tests in October, Wyllie explained.
"Their season will end mid-September I believe, and I think she's got contractual commitments there until October time.
"In the meantime, we still have a contract with Noeline that continues through our post-Netball World Cup period, so we're comfortable with that.
Wyllie though, remains confident of retaining Taurua, even if that's in a non-coaching role.
"She's already indicated that she won't let the Silver Ferns down.
"She's indicated that she'll be with us for a period of any handover or transition. But I believe that once she has an opportunity to reassess her options, she'll want to be involved in netball or some way, shape or form.
"Our intention is to be able to respect desire to reassess where she's at at the conclusion of her season in Australia."
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