Pulse coach to guide NZA
September 8, 2018
Unfazed about limited preparation time, successful Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse mentor Yvette McCausland-Durie is relishing the opportunity to coach the NZA team heading into the international netball season.
In a bid to build the coaching depth in New Zealand, five ANZ Premiership coaches have been appointed to play a part in the Silver Ferns, NZA and FAST5 Ferns teams after the recent appointment of Noeline Taurua as head coach of the Silver Ferns.
``These are great development opportunities and for all of us the greater connection we have to the goals of the international programme and understanding the needs, then the better off it is for us in terms of developing players in the ANZ Premiership,’’ McCausland-Durie said.
With NZA staring their campaign on Monday, McCausland-Durie has hit the ground running as she and her Northern Stars assistant coach Kiri Wills prepare for matches against South Africa, England, Australia and the Silver Ferns next week just prior to the Netball Quad Series.
``Kiri and I have had a couple of long phone calls and we’re going well,’’ McCausland-Durie said. ``I’m the kind of person who can work with anybody and we’ve been working hard over the last couple of days to make sure we’ve got our (playing) lines ready and that kind of stuff.
``It’s really been working in with the Silver Ferns around what they require from the NZA players as much as anything. While we’re overseeing the programme, we’re really making sure we’re giving the NZA players a direct view and instructions from the Silver Ferns coaching group.’’
With a new Silver Ferns coach in place and new squads to go with it, a strong-looking NZA squad has everything to play for and McCausland-Durie is primed for preparing the players to be at their best.
``It’s really exciting and a huge opportunity for the players given its coming up to World Cup year and for them to be seen against this international opposition is a massive opportunity, so I just want to make sure they’re the best prepared they can be,’’ she said.
In what will be an intense few days, NZA will play South Africa on Monday night, train on Tuesday, play England on Wednesday followed by Australia and the Silver Ferns on Thursday.
``We want to be successful, so the first part of that is positionally, making sure that we are working alongside Noeline to put the players in positions that she’s interested in seeing them in, and secondly, that we are really clear about who the opposition are, what the strengths are and making sure that we can create a plan that the players can find success with in terms of their individual and collective goals,’’ McCausland-Durie said.
``It won’t be easy but I’m feeling really positive about the group we’ve got. I think we can make inroads pretty quickly because we’ve all got connections and Kiri and I have worked with most of them before. There’s not a lot of that working out stuff that you normally have to do.’’
Unfazed about limited preparation time, successful Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse mentor Yvette McCausland-Durie is relishing the opportunity to coach the NZA team heading into the international netball season.
In a bid to build the coaching depth in New Zealand, five ANZ Premiership coaches have been appointed to play a part in the Silver Ferns, NZA and FAST5 Ferns teams after the recent appointment of Noeline Taurua as head coach of the Silver Ferns.
``These are great development opportunities and for all of us the greater connection we have to the goals of the international programme and understanding the needs, then the better off it is for us in terms of developing players in the ANZ Premiership,’’ McCausland-Durie said.
With NZA staring their campaign on Monday, McCausland-Durie has hit the ground running as she and her Northern Stars assistant coach Kiri Wills prepare for matches against South Africa, England, Australia and the Silver Ferns next week just prior to the Netball Quad Series.
``Kiri and I have had a couple of long phone calls and we’re going well,’’ McCausland-Durie said. ``I’m the kind of person who can work with anybody and we’ve been working hard over the last couple of days to make sure we’ve got our (playing) lines ready and that kind of stuff.
``It’s really been working in with the Silver Ferns around what they require from the NZA players as much as anything. While we’re overseeing the programme, we’re really making sure we’re giving the NZA players a direct view and instructions from the Silver Ferns coaching group.’’
With a new Silver Ferns coach in place and new squads to go with it, a strong-looking NZA squad has everything to play for and McCausland-Durie is primed for preparing the players to be at their best.
``It’s really exciting and a huge opportunity for the players given its coming up to World Cup year and for them to be seen against this international opposition is a massive opportunity, so I just want to make sure they’re the best prepared they can be,’’ she said.
In what will be an intense few days, NZA will play South Africa on Monday night, train on Tuesday, play England on Wednesday followed by Australia and the Silver Ferns on Thursday.
``We want to be successful, so the first part of that is positionally, making sure that we are working alongside Noeline to put the players in positions that she’s interested in seeing them in, and secondly, that we are really clear about who the opposition are, what the strengths are and making sure that we can create a plan that the players can find success with in terms of their individual and collective goals,’’ McCausland-Durie said.
``It won’t be easy but I’m feeling really positive about the group we’ve got. I think we can make inroads pretty quickly because we’ve all got connections and Kiri and I have worked with most of them before. There’s not a lot of that working out stuff that you normally have to do.’’
ENDS.
For media enquiries and interview requests, please contact:
Jane Hunt
Media and Communications Manager
e: jane_hunt@xtra.co.nz
m: +64 21 107 0287
Jane Hunt
Media and Communications Manager
e: jane_hunt@xtra.co.nz
m: +64 21 107 0287
Last Modified on 10/09/2018 09:21
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