A month on from a disappointing Netball World Cup campaign, the Silver Ferns coach sat down with 1News sport reporter Kate Wells to reflect and ready up for what lies ahead.
Listening to the waves crash behind, it's hard to believe it's been just a month since the Netball World Cup and the disappointment that washed over the Silver Ferns and coach Dame Noeline Taurua.
Sitting near the surf in Mount Maunganui — Taurua's home when netball isn't calling — it became clear quickly what the calming backdrop has offered the past month.
"That's the good thing about living in the Mount," Taurua told 1News.
"It's not only the birds and the sea and the beautiful sea air, but it's a nice, relaxing holiday feel here."
With a grin and uplift in her voice, she added, "I love it here".
It was a tough campaign for Taurua and the Ferns in South Africa with their loss to England in the semi-finals, and then defeat to Jamaica in the third bronze medal playoff, leaving them a fourth-place finish — their worst finish ever in a Netball World Cup.
"We do our review within Netball New Zealand and that's quite thorough but also people that I work with and my mentors and people who I know know the game and have been international coaches as well, I work through that list of people that I know," she said.
"They'll tell me what they think and I think that's all part and parcel of being a coach, whether you win or lose — that you have that external direction and feedback."
But like the waves behind her, Taurua has seemingly washed it away after some reflection with a new squad named earlier this week for the upcoming year of international netball which starts with the Taini Jamison Trophy against England later this month.
The series was thrown into headlines last week with England's decision to send a squad that features none of the players who won silver at this year's World Cup — a decision they reiterated was about the long-term and not meant to be viewed as disrespect to the black dress.
While Taurua confirmed she initially didn't want to play the Roses when she first heard of the "debacle", she has since remembered what is more important when it comes to the series.
"Playing in front of your home crowd is the best and I think also remembering Taini Jamison.
"We are playing for the Taini Jamison Trophy... and we've got to realise that Taini just passed away this year and what an icon she was for our sport so it's in remembrance of her.
"But it's also a chance to better — and you can't take those chances away."
'Being a Silver Fern isn't a part-time job'
With that in mind, Taurua's squad features many from the World Cup although there is the notable absence of midcourter Gina Crampton who has begun her "break" from netball which will keep her out of frame until at least the end of next year.
Crampton's absence leaves a considerable hole in the Silver Ferns' set up — one that many though Mystics midcourter Peta Toeava may get a shot at filling after impressive performances both in the ANZ Premiership and with the Silver Ferns.
However, Toeava was instead named only to the New Zealand A squad with fitness identified as an issue restricting her from taking that next step.
Taurua said there are "frustrations" in her job when it comes to selections but she won't budge on standards.
"One thing I have become accustomed to in this job is how I can learn and support different individuals and knowing that different people have their own way about things," she said.
"But for me, you've got to be 100 per cent committed to be a Silver Fern and it's not a part-time thing.
"I just think that sometimes people have different timeframes that they're working for and for me it's how we can get the best out of that person."
Specifically on Toeava, Taurua reiterated she was a great player but it wasn't her time yet.
"We know how good Peta is, we have still named her in the Silver Ferns squad and we know what she brings to the black dress but it's just about us getting our timing right with her."
The unknown
Timing is an especially important topic for Netball New Zealand currently with Taurua's current contract expiring after this year's Constellation Cup against Australia in October.
Taurua has been coy about her future for a while and even after a month back home in the Mount, she remains undecided about what her timeline holds.
"I'm a person that I end up where I'm supposed to end up," she said.
"I haven't closed off anything but I just don't know. I've got my head down at the moment... but I haven't put any extra energy into anything else."
It's been a journey for Taurua to "end up" as Silver Ferns coach after earning 34 caps as a player for New Zealand betwenn 1994 and 1999, being overlooked three times for the job before finally taking the reins in 2018 after a horror Commonwealth Games campaign.
But since then she's added a considerable amount to the legacy of the black dress, notably winning the Netball World Cup the following year as well as ending a nine-year drought in the Constellation Cup with a series win over Australia in 2021.
She also coached the team to a bronze medal at last year's Commonwealth Games before this year's heartache in South Africa.
Taurua said she was honoured to be a "caretaker" for the role.
"The job isn't mine forever.
"I do know as a past Silver Fern and how I see the game and my connection to the history of the game and what people have done before us to get us to this position, I never disrespect my role.
"I'm pretty open — if I need to move on, I'll move on without any fuss and do what's right for the game."
Just like a wave in Mount Maunganui.
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