While an off-season full of change and challenges may have most coaches tearing their hair out, Stars coach Kiri Wills is cutting a relaxed figure ahead of ANZ Premiership season 2024.
The 2023 runners up have seen six players move on, with Gina Crampton, Elle Temu, Jamie Hume and Lisa Putt departing, while Samon Nathan and Kelera Nawai-Caucau are expectant mothers.
This has opened the door for a number of new faces to stake their claims for court time, with homegrown talent Khanyè-Lii Munro-Nanoa and Lili Tokaduadua elevated to the full-time squad after impressing in the NNL with the Comets, while Rahni Samason and Emma Thompson bring flair and creativity from wide-ranging netball experiences.
Wills says it’s been a reinvigorating change for her as a coach this year.
“The younger players are so eager to learn and have taken on board all the support that’s available to them which is exciting. Change is good for everybody and we’ve just got to keep building with what we’ve got. We’ve got a really strong core and some great leaders.” Wills explained.
“I’ve loved it and it’s really refreshed both Paula and I. You start out with a plan and when that changes you have to adapt and coach what’s in front of you and likewise the players have got to play with what’s there which is new and exciting and I think we’ll potentially be underestimated.”
Some familiar figures have also returned to the Stars whānau, with midcourter Lisa Mather and defender Kate Burley adding some experience to a squad who already boasts front line regulars Maia Wilson, Amorangi Malesala, Mila Reuelu-Buchanan and Holly Fowler from last year.
The Stars advanced to their second straight grand final last season, falling short against the Mystics. The hunger to go one better has been evident throughout the pre-season as the team have gelled together ahead of round one.
In a bid to keep evolving and challenging their opposition, Wills and assistant coach Paula Smith have worked hard to implement new strategies on defence and attack to take Stars netball to another level.
“We want to be a lot more aggressive in the defensive space and I think that’s something I’m quite aware of after watching the netball world cup, that we can be relatively passive with our space marking style. We want to be more aggressive in that space and for people to know we are there and in their face which is a big change for us.” Wills said.
“On attack we’re a team who took advantage of the changes to the interpretation of the short pass rule and played a short and tight game in previous years. But we can adapt and we’ve opened up our game quite a bit and I think you’ll see more length to our game and a lot more ball speed.”
Round one of an extended 15-week regular season sees the Stars meet the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse, who they last encountered during an elimination final in Porirua – with the Stars winning that match by a single goal.
Wills knows both teams will have to be at their very best if they’re to win at Pulman Arena on Sunday.
"As soon as you drop your guard with the Pulse they just take off on you and likewise if the Pulse do that with us then we’ll pressure them as well. It’s going to be a fascinating battle.” Wills said.
“I love that the Pulse play a tighter harder game than everybody else and we respect them for that. The Pulse always challenge us and we do different things at training to prepare for them, which has always worked well.”
