Netball: 'Red flags' raised on ex-Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby months before Commonwealth Games

Netball New Zealand has revealed they saw major problems with the Silver Ferns as early as six months before the failures of the Commonwealth Games.

Former coach Janine Southby has fallen on her sword in the wake of the review of the campaign in which they finished fourth.

CEO Jennie Wyllie has stated that the warning signs were there months beforehand.

"What we did see was red flags," said Wyllie of her time with the squad in Australia.

The Ferns won just six of 18 matches leading into the Commonwealth Games, including a four-game sweep at the hands of the Australians at the Constellation Cup.

"At that point the board and myself were incredibly concerned," Wyllie continued.

The national body made changes, but it was too little too late.

The shock loss to Malawi on the Gold Coast left the players and coaches "fractured".

"You could see the strain and that the team was struggling, and I think it was evident to everyone that the team and management were finding it really tough."

The Ferns' fourth-placing at the Games came as no surprise to Wyllie.

"I take responsibility for it all. I do take accountability, I think about it every day."

Coaching great Robyn Broughton thinks the onus needs to extend further.

"I think the board, the selectors, we all needed to take responsibility," said Broughton.

The independent review identified 12 areas where Netball New Zealand got it wrong.

The report stated that the governing body should have seen the collapse coming.

Several players had lost confidence in themselves and the coaches in 2017.

Both Janine Southby and Yvette McCausland-Durie were out of their depth, and a number of retirements and the loss of Laura Langman didn't help.

The next Silver Ferns squad is named in three weeks and Netball NZ's immediate focus is to find a replacement coach. Where that search starts is another question altogether.

"I just don't know who's out there that's capable of doing it," Broughton wondered.

"We've got to be sure. Some people are a lot more confident than they are good at it."

With no coach and the World Cup just 12 months away, the CEO is already looking to lower expectations.

"I would love to see us medal," said Wyllie when asked what success would look like in England.

A side normally aiming for gold, now content for any colour.

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