Southby, the former Steel coach and long time Otago player, resigned as Silver Ferns head coach yesterday just as the review conducted into the disappointing Silver Ferns performance at the Commonwealth Games in April on the Gold Coast was released.
The review concluded Southby lacked experience for the job, and her decision to give more power to the players was wrong although the side was significantly low on experience when entering the event.
Southby had been in charge of the Silver Ferns for just under three years, but when the side finished a poor fourth at the Commonwealth Games in April she was on borrowed time.
Netball New Zealand chief executive Jennie Wyllie acknowledged the contribution Southby had made to netball over the years and looked forward to having the opportunity to work with her in the future.
Southby could not be contacted last night.
In a statement released by Netball New Zealand, Southby said it was a sad day for her.
"I am very sad to have reached this point," she said.
"We were at a real point of transition when I was appointed and I believed it would take time to make the necessary change.
"Over the last two years I have worked hard to develop a high performance culture based on accountability and self-responsibility. I felt we were making steps in the right direction, however I have to acknowledge this hasn’t happened as quickly or as well as I would have liked."
She said the results through the transition were unacceptable and far less than she was aiming for.
"As head coach I have to front up to my own responsibility in producing these results and I have. I’m as gutted as anyone that we couldn’t produce the results we aimed for."
Netball New Zealand commissioned a review into the team’s performance after the Games and released its findings at the same time as the head coach’s resignation.
The review says a combination of factors contributed to the team’s performance. The findings showed the team that went to the Games was very green and was not battle hardened.
Southby favoured giving power to the players, but the players were not experienced enough to take advantage of that. The team needed more structure and direction and once the side lost to Malawi the team structure fractured completely.
Southby lacked the experience of going to a pinnacle event and the coaching group was too similar.
But Netball New Zealand also came under fire.
"Netball New Zealand continues to struggle to embrace a true high performance culture —the no compromises, no shortcuts philosophy, so much a part of many elite sports, is not yet ingrained deeply enough within netball in New Zealand."
The organisation should reinstate a New Zealand A programme next year, while former Silver Fern Bernice Mene has been appointed to the Netball New Zealand board to give it more netball nous. Southby, who is married with two girls, had worked her way up the coaching ladder, having started as an assistant coach with the Otago Rebels in 2004, shortly after finishing playing.
She coached the Steel and New Zealand under-21 teams, and was appointed as head coach of the Silver Ferns in November 2015.
She won her first game against England and had some wins over arch-enemy Australia.
But results slowly worsened and Australia started pulling away last year.
At the Commonwealth Games, the Silver Ferns lost to Malawi and England in pool play then went down to Australia in the semifinal. They then lost to Jamaica in the playoff for the bronze medal, thus coming home from a Commonwealth Games empty-handed for the first time.
