Lightning strikes in bid to retain Kiwi coach Taurua

Sunshine Coast Lightning coach Noeline Taurua is set to recommit to the team beyond 2018.

Sunshine Lightning coach Noeline Taurua. Picture: Aaron Francis.

Sunshine Coast Lightning coach Noeline Taurua, one of netball’s most accomplished leaders, is set to recommit to the team beyond this year as she prepares her players for a title defence.

“I’m in a good space. For me to come over here, the main reason was for my family,” said the Kiwi coach, who has spent most of her career unable to live with her husband and five children while working.

When Danielle Smith signed on as the Lightning’s chief executive, her first appointment was with Taurua, the only coach to guide a New Zealand club to a championship in the old trans-Tasman competition.

According to Smith, Taurua has been “absolutely instrumental” in attracting star talent to the Lightning, and developing a connection to the local community.

Smith said the team would love to retain its coach as long as it can, and that a contract would be “worked out fairly soon”.

An extension would rule out any role with the Silver Ferns leading into next year’s World Cup, and end speculation across the ditch from fans unhappy with the performance of current New Zealand coach Janine Southby.

The Lightning enter this season as the odds-on championship favourites, despite losing midcourt veteran Laura Langman in the off-season.

Taurua said she made the move to Queensland to “learn the Australian way” of netball coaching. She’s now using what she’s sees as a hybrid of her own New Zealand principles and what she’s learned at the Lightning.

And she feels for Langman, who was barred for Silver Ferns duty last year, and is currently taking time away from netball.

“I sort of knew. We had lots of conversations over months, about what she wants to do and where netball lies for her,” Taurua said.

“My only hope for her is that she plays for New Zealand. I don’t know if it’s just a fairytale, but I’d like it to end in a really good way for her because she’s good, she’s an amazing player.”

Taurua also said things might not be pretty as the team gels after a pre-season interrupted by commitments including the Commonwealth Games.

“We’ve just gotta grind sometimes until we get our flow and get the mojo going,” she said.