The Silver Ferns won Commonwealth Games gold, but a bigger fight is just beginning

Grace Nweke turns her Commonwealth Games gold medal over in her hands, studying it intently, before letting it fall back against her chest.

Half an hour earlier, the star shooter had been in tears in the centre of Glasgow’s The Hydro arena as she embraced her team-mates in the emotional celebrations that followed Silver Ferns’ stunning win over Jamaica in the Commonwealth Games netball final.

The win – which ended a 16-year drought for New Zealand in the pinnacle event – came off the back of one of the most turbulent years any Silver Ferns team has had to endure.

Now, talking to reporters with a gold medal around her neck and the noise of the final beginning to fade, Nweke is only just starting to process the journey that had brought the Silver Ferns to this moment.

“It’s really heavy,” she says of her new golden accessory. “I’ve never had one before.”

Over the past 12 months Nweke and her national teammates have carried a different kind of weight.

They have lost their captain, Ameliaranne Ekenasio, who elected to step away from the team last year, saying she needed a break “for my mind, body and spirit”.

They have seen coach Dame Noeline Taurua stood down by the national body after what began as a discreet cultural review of the Ferns’ environment erupted into a bitter employment dispute.

Then, in the fallout that followed Taurua’s shock suspension, they have listened as former players bagged them and questioned their professionalism.

And they have been picked apart on talkback radio, on social media and in comment sections, becoming the target of relentless criticism.

Hanging over all of it has been questions about the future of the domestic game.

With no broadcast deal in place for next season, Netball NZ is yet to commit to running a competition in 2027, which left many in the team heading into the tournament not knowing whether they will have a professional contract next season.

Somehow, everything that threatened to consume them off the court never followed them onto it.

“There were definitely moments where you questioned what you’re doing and I think it took more of a toll than I’ve processed,” says Nweke.

“I think I got to a point where I was like it’s got to count for something. I’m really grateful to seal off this story with this gold.”

The eight-goal win over Jamaica on Monday morning capped off a near-flawless campaign for the Silver Ferns, built on precision rather than emotion.

Throughout the week the Ferns had made no secret of the ambitious target they set for themselves of limiting turnovers to fewer than 10 per game. On Monday, against a Jamaican side known for its defensive clout, the New Zealand side’s error count was just eight for the entire game – virtually unheard of in international netball, let alone in the cauldron of a championship final at the end of a run of seven games in 10 days.

Much of that composure bore the hallmarks of Taurua.

Quietly going about her business with minimal fuss throughout the tournament, the veteran coach – who famously led the Ferns to a World Cup title in 2019 after 11 months in charge – once again showed her ability to mold a team in a short space of time.

“The game plan speaks for itself, she’s a mastermind and we’re very lucky to have her,” Nweke said of her coach.

For many, the gold medal will inevitably be viewed as a measure of vindication for Taurua after a tumultuous 2025, but the coach herself was reluctant to entertain such questions – only going as far to say that the victory was “sweet”.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, so it’s very cool,” said Taurua.

“It’s an honour for me to be able to be back with the Silver Ferns and coach them, it’s sweet getting gold and I’m absolutely proud of the players, the staff, and our whole team.”

For the Silver Ferns team and coaching staff, the gold medal offers a powerful sense of closure after a turbulent year. But it does not provide a fairytale ending for the sport.

There remain genuine fears for the future of New Zealand’s elite domestic competition, after Netball NZ revealed it is forecasting a loss of up to $6 million for the financial year – $3.7m can be attributed to the costs of running the ANZ Premiership.

As it battles to secure broadcast and commercial investment, it is understood Netball NZ is considering putting the ANZ Premiership competition on hold, or returning to an amateur one. The uncertainty has forced the national body to scrap the final restrictions preventing Silver Ferns and other leading players from pursuing overseas contracts.

Silver Ferns captain Karin Burger, who is one of nine New Zealand players already to make the leap and take up contracts in Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball this season, says she has been sad to see what has happened to the New Zealand league over the past few years.

She hopes the team’s performance in Glasgow in the face of huge adversity would become part of the argument for investing in the game.

“I think it shows the strength of the women in our sport and what we are capable of doing. Hopefully that shines the light on us, and the product that we do have and that we continuously can put out there regardless of what’s thrown our way.”

For Mila Reuelu-Buchanan, the breakout star of the Ferns’ campaign, the moment carried an even wider significance.

Before the tournament, the midcourter was among a group of senior players leading calls for greater support for netball in New Zealand. After Monday’s match, an emotional Reuelu-Buchanan once again gave an impassioned plea.

“This medal is also for netball in New Zealand. Currently there is no competition, and that’s the reality. It’s really hard to believe that the future is uncertain for us. I hope there is someone back home who sees the real potential in our sport because it needs to stay alive,” she said.

“This is for those that have gone before us and it also shows there is a future here waiting for us.

“We’ve had to play in this competition with real uncertainty about our livelihoods, and that gave us extra strength and mana to play for each other.”

Somewhere in amongst the dysfunction, the Silver Ferns found the togetherness to survive.

Now the challenge is ensuring the game they represent does too.