Kiri Wills will be the second New Zealand head coach in Australia's Suncorp Super Netball competition. Photo:
Kiri Wills says she is ready for the cut-throat world of Australian netball.
Wills will become just the second New Zealand head coach in Australia's Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) competition, when she takes charge of the Queensland Firebirds next year on a two-year deal.
Current Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua was the first New Zealander to coach in the best league in the world. Dame Noeline coached the Sunshine Coast Lightning for three years, leading them to two titles in 2017 and 2018.
After seven seasons as head coach of the Stars in the ANZ Premiership, Wills felt she had reached a ceiling in New Zealand.
"Once you do ANZ for a number of years you do look outside of New Zealand for opportunities," Wills said.
Dame Noeline was reappointed head coach in April and Netball New Zealand then advertised the Silver Ferns assistant coaching role. Interviews were completed back in June but there's still been no announcement.
Wills said she applied for the role but was unsuccessful.
"But I actually think that this role will put me under the pump even more, whereas the assistant coach role you kind of sit behind somebody else who takes the flak if there is any. So I think this is probably the better opportunity in terms of my own development."
Three of the ANZ Premiership's most experienced coaches are stepping away after several years with their franchises.
Tactix coach Marianne Delaney-Hoshek, who wants to spend more time with her family, signed off last weekend. Next year outgoing Steel coach Reinga Bloxham will take over as head coach of the Cardiff Dragons, who play in the UK's Netball Super League.
Dame Noeline Taurua and Caitlin Bassett after winning the Suncorp Super Netball title in 2018 with the Sunshine Coast Lightning. Photo: DCimages | Daniel Carson / Photosport
Wills said she watched the Australian netball league whenever she could.
"It is a slightly elevated competition so when the job was advertised I put my CV in.
"You sit here in New Zealand and watch the SSN and watch teams like the Firebirds and always wonder what it would be like to coach a team like that and coach in front of the crowds they have. I'm going to get that opportunity, which is really exciting,"
The Firebirds were the most successful team during the ANZ Championship era, winning three premierships, in 2011, 2015 and 2016 but the team has struggled in recent years.
Megan Anderson parted ways with the club after two seasons, before another former Australian Diamonds player Bec Bulley took over at the start of last year.
Bulley was then dropped part-way through this season, which is almost unheard of in netball.
Wills said it was a fairly rigourous recruitment process.
"It's no secret that they've had a few issues recently so I felt they were very thorough. I had to go through a couple of interviews to get to this point and at each stage there was some serious questioning around my ability to lead and lead culture, I think is a big thing looking forward to this job."
Wills said she knows she'll be judged on her results.
"It's part of the job but you've got to back yourself to be good enough to do the job with the team that you've got. I don't back away from challenges, I'm going into this with my eyes wide open."
Wills is flying over to Brisbane this morning, to spend three days with the high performance manager. A part of that will be getting up to speed with where the franchise is at in terms of recruiting for the 2025 season.
Kiri Wills Photo: Photosport
Last week the Queensland Firebirds announced that they were not offering Australian Diamonds shooter Donnell Wallam a contract in 2025, which came as a shock to fans over there.
They are also letting go of highly rated defender Remi Kamo.
The signing window for Australian clubs opens on 5th August and closes on 23rd August.
"Obviously there's a bit of confidentiality around their roster so I don't know too much but I'll be meeting players who they have signed, so I'll be getting a handle of that pretty quickly.
"I know that the quality of player no matter who they have is going to be outstanding so that part of it doesn't really worry me I'll just coach whatever is in front of me. But I'm keen to have some input into any signings that they haven't made so that's going to be exciting to go through over the next few days."
Does she have any New Zealand players on her dream list?
"I think that bar has been set very high in terms of who's going to be allowed to cross the ditch and who isn't.
"I think there's some players in New Zealand who would definitely benefit but I don't think that process has loosened up as far as I'm aware from what I've heard coming out of Netball New Zealand.
"So I don't want to get too carried away until I know the lay of the land. I will talk to the Queensland Firebirds about whether or not they have approached New Zealand players and where they've got with that and I might get more understanding from the other side now."
Wills will relocate to Brisbane and the stars seem to have aligned for her and her family.
In a completely unrelated coincidence, Wills had already enrolled her daughter Grace and son Charlie, who are both keen swimmers, at St Peters Lutheran College next year.
The College, near Brisbane, has a renowned swimming programme.
In May, Netball New Zealand and Sky TV announced they had agreed to a one-year extension to their existing broadcasting partnership.
RNZ also reported that the broadcast deal with Sky TV was for a significantly reduced amount of money.
Whether that will lead to coaches being paid less in next year's ANZ Premiership remains to be seen.
"I don't know if there is going to be a pay cut but I wouldn't have been happy to take one. And it's hard work ...you're expected to put out this amazing product with very little resourcing. For anyone involved in the ANZ Premiership [pay cuts] would not go down well."
