Burdon: Remembering the matriarch of the Southern Sting

"The Southern Sting era, which Robyn was the matriarch of, seems like a lifetime ago, and yesterday, all at the same time."

Robyn Broughton being interviewed following an ANZ Championship match.

There weren't many more people than Nathan Burdon who found themselves interviewing the legendary Robyn Broughton during her remarkable netball coaching career. The former Southland Times netball writer reflects on his time quizzing Broughton, and also ‘that’ look.

Amongst all the memories which come rushing back, there are a couple that leap to mind when I think of Robyn Broughton.

The first is ‘that’ look. The one a knock-kneed young reporter would get after asking a ‘wrong’ question. Maybe Robyn didn’t want to answer that particular question, but more likely the query was just straight out dumb, barely worth the time of someone with her encyclopaedic knowledge of the game to bother with.

Whatever the reason, it was why a rookie journo would often rehearse questions in their head before testing them against the force of nature that was southern netball supremo Robyn Broughton.

That look. A downward tilt of the chin and a glint of steel, like a rapier flash in the moonlight.

A hundred players will know what I mean. But they will also know the other memory - that wickedly deep cackle that Robyn would deliver when she was truly entertained, truly delighted, truly touched by something. That was a joy to experience.

I inherited the netball round at the Southland Times, a round lovingly honed in its early years by Kate Buchanan, and was fortunate to bear witness to most of the franchise’s ensuing success.

The Southern Sting era, which Robyn was the matriarch of, seems like a lifetime ago, and yesterday, all at the same time.

If you were in Southland at the time, I don’t need to tell you just what it meant to a province which was really struggling. Just how big the hype was. Just how well-loved the team was by the public. Just what a dominant force the Sting were.

If you weren’t, you missed something special. The Crusaders are the only team I can think of that comes close to achieving what the Sting did in sporting terms, but you need to layer over the social and economic headwinds that Southland was enduring in those early 2000s to get a sense of what Robyn Broughton and this team meant to the province.

Robyn’s coaching record can’t be questioned. She took Verdon College to the top of

secondary school netball in New Zealand. Her teams dominated the first decade of

professional netball in New Zealand. She is a life member of Southland netball and Netball New Zealand. She was a selector and assistant coach with the Silver Ferns.

Does it matter that the Sting were not, by and large, a home grown team? Not to me.

Robyn created an environment that players wanted to be part of, and most thrived in. Her game plan focused on treasuring your own centre pass and punishing turnovers.

Her teams were ruthless in the third quarter. Players in other teams looked on in envy.

I can’t tell you what it was like to be coached or mentored by Robyn. I’ll leave that to Donna Wilkins, Bernice Mene, Lesley Nicol, Adine Wilson, Wendy Frew, Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit. The late Tania Dalton. What a pantheon of stars.

I do know Robyn cared deeply about her players. About their lives. About their families. She was even known to check in on reporters who were going through their own challenges to make sure they were ok.

I don’t know if Southland will ever experience a time like the Sting era again.

That was a song which evokes a raft of feelings every time it comes up in the playlist. And Robyn Broughton was the conductor of that song. The memories will continue to echo.

RIP Robyn.