Opals guard Natalie Hurst in 2009. Photo: Dave Lintott
Former Australian Opal Nat Hurst has cemented her place as Tall Ferns head coach after first taking on the role in an interim capacity a year ago.
Hurst replaces fellow Australian Guy Molloy who stepped away in March last year after six years in charge.
Her goal for the Tall Ferns is to be one of the top teams in Asia.
As a player Hurst was a winner. She represented the Opals between 2009 and 2013 winning three FIBA Oceania Championships and also steered the Canberra Capitals to seven league championships in the WNBL playing 290 games over 13 seasons.
Hurst, who played at point guard, also had a stint in Europe between 2012 to 2017 before transitioning to the professional coaching ranks.
She was head coach of the Adelaide Lightning until December but now she is returning to her hometown of Canberra to be an assistant coach for the WNBL team that she was such a successful player with - a job that will run alongside her Tall Ferns responsibilities.
Hurst is happy to be home and settled while she takes on some big professional changes.
"From playing I stepped straight into a coaching role I've probably been moving six months of the year for the last 15 odd years so right now it's a great time, with my young family, to stay at home and be able to do what I love at home and then be able to focus on the Tall Ferns as well," the mum to a 2-year-old and 7-year-old said.
Hurst first coached a Tall Ferns select team in July last year and guided the Tall Ferns during the FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifier series in Mexico in August where New Zealand lost two of their three games.
Tall Ferns team huddle during the FIBA Women's Asia Cup. Photo: photosport
Getting the connections right on and off the court is important to Hurst.
"The relationship part now I feel like in basketball, or in any sport, is a massive thing to get right if you want to be successful. From the top down we need to be buying into exactly what we are doing."
Hurst wants to continue what Molloy started.
"I know I am stepping into some big shoes and I just want to keep driving what he was driving I want to keep his vision of where he thinks the programme can go but add myself into that. I'd be silly to try and reinvent the entire wheel we're 26th in the world right now and we don't want to keep sitting at 26th in the world so there are things we need to improve on.
"It's an exciting time for the Ferns we've got a bunch of young kids in college [in the US] and coming out of college and I think it is an exciting time to see the veterans, some of the ones that have been there before, and then we get a bunch of new talent coming into the programme so the depth of what we get to select from and the talent pool is right there and now it is just about us figuring out how to put it all together."
Joining Hurst as her assistants on the coaching staff will be Mel Bennett and Kerryn Mitchell.
Having "three strong women leading a squad of strong women" is the right fit according to Hurst.
"I feel like it makes sense for a whole lot of things that we are trying to do...we're all different we all have different strengths and weaknesses that complement each other so it's a really exciting time in that respect to get to work with Kerryn and Mel."
Bennett has dedicated her career to growing the game in Aotearoa.
She served as the head coach of the Tauranga Whai during the first two seasons of Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa before making the move south to assist Tania Tupu at the Tokomanawa Queens last season.
Bennett was also head coach of the Junior Tall Ferns from 2021 to 2024 and was recently named Auckland Basketball's community officer.
Mitchell joins the Tall Ferns coaching roster with experience in Australia's NBL1 and international basketball.
She was head coach of the Sandringham Sabres and has previously served as an assistant coach with the Southside Flyers.
Mitchell also contributed to the Tall Ferns programme as an assistant coach during the FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifiers.
The trio's first series in charge of the Tall Ferns will be the three-game Trans-Tasman Throwdown against Australian Opals in May.
Hurst said that "new faces" would join the squad for the games against the Opals before she gets a wider squad to choose from for FIBA Asia Cup which will serve as a world cup qualifying tournament in China in July.
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