Netball: Stepping up for the Steel

The Steel is looking for a new coach after Janine Southby was this week named in charge of the Silver Ferns for the next four years. Netball writer Robert van Royen looks at the contenders for the job. 

 

Reinga Te Huia

CV: Has been the Steel assistant coach the past two years, and also coached the South under-23 team last year.

Te Huia, who played five seasons for the Southern Sting in the defunct national league, also coached Southland for three years.

She and Jo Cunningham co-coached the South team which won the 2009 Lois Muir Challenge.

Pros: Has been involved with the franchise as Janine Southby's assistant the past few years.

Is from Invercargill and would move into the top job with minimal disruption.

Cons: A lack of head coaching experience at the top level, but then she needs to be given a chance at some stage.

Odds: Her time with the franchise the past few years make her the frontrunner for the job.

 

Natalie Avellino

CV: Co-coached the Steel with Southby in 2012, before being named assistant coach behind Southby for 2013.

However, the former Australian player was sacked four games into the year due to a breakdown in relationship with the head coach.

Avellino, a teacher at Southland Girls' High School, coaches the senior A team at the school.

Pros: Has been involved with the franchise in the past, and would get the chance to do things her way this time round.

Is based in Invercargill and knows the region well.

Cons: Left the franchise on bad terms and last year admitted the way her exit played out ''left a bad taste in my mouth''.

Enough water may not yet have gone under the bridge since her departure for it to work.

Odds: Is a decent chance, but it depends if she really is over the way things went down a couple of years ago.

While she all but ruled out again coaching at the ANZ Championship level last year, she told the Otago Daily Times earlier this week she would ''definitely'' have a look at the job when advertised.

 

Margaret Foster

CV: Was the Steel's assistant coach in 2009 behind head coach Robyn Broughton.

Foster coached the Canterbury Flames in the old national league for six years in the 2000s.

However, when the ANZ Championship launched in 2008, she did not get the main job with the Tactix.

Foster was an assistant coach with the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in 2011, and has also helped coach UK super league franchise Loughborough Lightning in recent years.

She has also assisted with the Sri Lankan national team, and owns Motivationz Netball, a Christchurch-based coaching company.

Pros: Has been involved in coaching for a long-time, and with a variety of teams at different levels.

Is perhaps the most experienced candidate for the job.

Cons: Is outspoken when does not agree with things and has a tendency to rub people up the wrong way.

Could not get the Canterbury Flames over the final hurdle, despite taking them to multiple grand finals.

Odds: Is rumoured to be interested in the job, and will provide Netball South with a strong case if she indeed hands in her CV.

However, Foster is said to have applied - without luck - for a bunch of coaching jobs over the years.

 

Lauren Piebenga

CV: Coached Otago to a national title in 2013, and continued up the Netball South coaching pathway earlier this year when she coached the South under-23 team at the national championships.

Has also coached the Otago under-21 side to two national titles.

Piebenga coaches College A in the Dunedin premier competition, and has expressed an interest in coaching at the ANZ Championship level in the past.

Pros: Young up-and-coming coach who is working her way up the ranks.

Has dealt with many of the Steel players at the under-23 and club level. Also coached a bunch of Steel players when she was in charge of Otago/Dunedin in 2013 and 2014.

Cons: Has less experience at the top level than other potential candidates.

Odds: Possibly not the right time to get the main job, but could be in line for the vacant head coaching job for the South team in the national league.

 

Deb Tasi-Cordtz

CV: Coached Otago to a national title in 2012, her third year in charge of the team, before taking a few years off for family reasons.

She returned to coaching this year, when she guided Dunedin to a sixth place finish at the national championships in Wellington.

The 41-year-old started coaching when she was just 24, and worked closely with former Rebels and Otago coach Georgie Salter for more than 10 years.

Also helped former Silver Ferns coach and Netball New Zealand president Dame Lois Muir for a year when she led the Rebels.

She was head coach of Otago Under-21 for four years and guided the team to the national championship finals in 2006.

Pros: Guided a depleted Dunedin to sixth place at the national championships this year. Has been coaching since she was 24, albeit not at the top level.

Cons: Lacks experience at the top level and has only just got back into coaching after a couple of years off.

Odds: Is likely to put her name forward, but like Piebenga, might be better suited to first coaching the South team in the national league.

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