Marg Foster sick of playing second fiddle

ROBYN EDIE/Southland Times

ASSISTANT: Marg Foster has been appointed assistant coach to Noeline Taurua at Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic.

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Iconic netball coach Margaret Foster wants a head coaching gig in the toughest club netball competition in the world.

Foster served as assistant coach for Southern Steel in this year's ANZ Championship but admitted that the backseat role did not really suit her.

In the off-season, she gained an interview for the vacant Queensland Firebirds' coaching position but narrowly missed out.

Foster has extensive experience as a coach in the old National Bank Cup competition with the Canterbury Flames and has also coached New Zealand A.

In recent years she has battled both breast and ovarian cancer but told The Southland Times yesterday she had a clean bill of health and was ready to take the helm of an ANZ Championship side in the future.

"Absolutely," Foster said.

"And I can see it happening. I'm 100 per cent well now. I think it's only a matter of time. There were no openings in New Zealand this year but the coaching landscape can change very quickly."

Foster said she loved the chance to work alongside Steel head coach Robyn Broughton this year, after years of trying to outwit her as Flames coach in National Bank Cup finals.

She admitted she found the assistant coach's role and commuting between Christchurch and Invercargill on a weekly basis pretty difficult.

"It was very different. I know I'm not an assistant coach. I really enjoyed my time working with Robyn and learned so much from her. I loved the environment...

"It was quite cool to get an insight into her coaching style. She does some fantastic stuff and I'm even implementing a few of her things."

Steel are on the hunt for a replacement for Foster, with applications for the assistant coach's job closing yesterday afternoon.

Foster believed the best candidate for the job would be someone homegrown from the Otago-Southland region, who could be groomed as a possible Steel coach for the future.

Some sceptics have been quick to dismiss Steel's chances in next year's ANZ Championship, with experienced campaigners Adine Wilson, Donna Wilson and Megan Hutton and Silver Fern international Katrina Grant all not returning. Foster rubbished those claims, though, and said Steel would be in the championship mix again.

"I definitely think so. This year, they paved the way, making the top four. One of Robyn's fortes is recruiting players to her team and bringing out the best in them."

You could excuse Foster for putting her feet up at the end of the ANZ Championship with Steel and having a deserved break but that's not how the insightful coach rolls.

Foster has been busy running her Motivationz netball academies, which exist in Christchurch, the North Shore and the Hawke's Bay. She is also doing work with Canterbury Netball in a high-performance accelerant role and earlier this week returned from four weeks in the Caribbean, where she has been coaching and promoting healthy living through netball in Saint Lucia. That has been such a success that the Saint Lucia Government has asked her to return for another three-month stint next year. Life after Steel is treating her fairly well, it would seem.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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