Leota Returns To Steel
Former Rhinos and England Assistant Head Coach Liana Leota is returning “home” to the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel as assistant coach.
In a significant coup for the franchise, former Silver Fern Liana Leota is returning “home” to the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel as assistant coach.
Leota takes over the role from Jo Morrison, who was recently appointed head coach of the New Zealand Secondary Schools team.
“I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside an amazing management team for the past four years. I have learnt so much and will be able to apply all of this rich learning to my next challenge,” Morrison said.
Based in the UK since 2016, Leota honed her coaching skills to the highest echelon and has spent the past three and a half years working as technical coach with the Vitality England Roses. In 2022, she was appointed director of Super League franchise the Leeds Rhinos.
The opportunity to bring her vast knowledge back to the Steel alongside head coach Wendy Frew cemented the decision to return to New Zealand.
“I have been waiting for the right time for a while now. Our children have been asking to return home to be closer to our families. When there was an opening at Steel and with Wendy it was a no-brainer,” she said.
“This was once my netball home where I felt, holistically, I learnt the most about myself as an athlete but, most of all, where I learnt the most about the game of netball and how I saw it through my own eyes. The Robbie Broughton effect.”
A former Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Leota, 40, was a midcourt maestro for the Steel and its predecessor the Sting from 2007 to 2011 and was eager to link with Frew.
“To be honest I have been dreaming of returning since I started my coaching journey with England. How amazing would it be to return to Steel which holds a special place in my heart and try to carry on the legacy of the amazing Robbie Broughton,” she said.
“The beauty of our relationship is that the trust is already there and built over a long period of time. As players and co-captains we were able to have those tough conversations with each other and make tough decisions that impacted our team. That already breaks down weeks, if not years, of time together. I know we can get straight into the thick of it.”
Leota’s coaching nous would add another dynamic to the Steel ranks.
“I still embody the old school ways of where we as Sting and Steel had great success. Work ethic, intensity and basic skills. Robbie has ingrained these into all of us that she coached. These simple foundations have sat at the forefront in all my roles,” she said.
“The second would be the way I see the game and evolving in the attack end. I love structure but you will also need to play the picture that presents. In turn creating thinking players and building their understanding and netball knowledge. Knowledge is power! Attackers that can play to structure should also pull apart defensive structures just as quickly.”
Her stint in England Netball’s high performance environment, including the 2023 Netball World Cup where the Roses secured a silver medal, had proved invaluable.
“Being raised in New Zealand and my whole netball career we have always been taught one style or way of playing. Being immersed in the UK with different cultures has given me more of a understanding of people,” she said.
“I have learned a lot around being able to implement a game plan and adapt to different styles. Over the last three years, I have been able to travel and play so many different international netball teams. This has given the coaches and players the learnings and understanding of each nation; how they play and then how we have to adapt to break them down.”
Her aims for the 2025 ANZ Premiership were simple.
“To get a lay of the land and find my feet as a coach and within our team, to demonstrate or play a brand of netball we are proud of or renowned for and to authentically be myself – you get the best of me if I do this.
“I feel like it has been a long time coming and now that I am home I just want to enjoy this next chapter and whatever it brings.”
Frew said she was “beyond excited” to connect with Leota in a new capacity.
“She was an exceptional player, known for her X-factor and flair on the court, and I’ve had the privilege of watching her coaching journey in the UK with great interest,” she said.
“Not only is she a close friend, but we also shared the experience of being teammates and co-captains. Now, as we take on this new challenge of leading a team together, it feels like an exciting new chapter for both of us. I can’t wait for La to bring her wealth of coaching experience into the Southern Steel environment and see the impact she will make.”
