Steel 'walking backwards into the future'
“Wendy and I have spoken about this. Sting still has an amazing legacy. So how do we use that to inspire our own athletes?"
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The 2025 Southern Steel squad is delving back into the past to draw on some inspiration for its future.
The Steel is in the midst of its preseason preparations ahead of its ANZ Premiership opener against the Tactix on May 11.
A homework assignment handed down to the 2025 Steel group by new coaches Wendy Frew and Liana Leota, has been for each person to pick a Sting, Rebels, or Steel player from the past, learn about the legacy they left, their strengths and values, and how that resonates with that current day Steel player as a person.
They have been reporting back to the rest of the squad with what they found.
To date Georgia Heffernan has put together a presentation on the late Tania Dalton, coach Frew talked about Robyn Broughton, Carys Stythe chose Jane Watson, and Kimiora Poi presented on Shannon Saunders.
Assistant coach Leana Leota told The Roar Podcast this week the assignment was based on the Māori whakatauki that speaks about “walking backwards into the future”.
“Wendy and I have spoken about this. Sting still has an amazing legacy. So how do we use that to inspire our own athletes?
“A lot of the [current Steel] athletes aren't based in Southland, Dunedin. So how do we reconnect them back to those people that were before us?”
Frew and Leota have drawn significantly on the late Broughton’s legacy as a coach. Leota acknowledged that the late coaching legend was a key reason why she decided to take up the assistant coaching role with the Steel this year.
Leota played for the Sting in 2007 and then Steel from 2008 to 2011 also played under the guidance of Broughton.
When Broughton headed to coach the Central Pulse in 2012, Leota followed her coach to the capital.
Leota puts her own transition from player to coach down to what Broughton passed on to her.
“It’s definitely about Robbie, coming home. Creating that legacy that she left and just being able to bring some pride back into the Steel dress,” Leota told The Roar Podcast.
“I think when [Wendy and I] both went into these coaching spaces, [Robyn Broughton] was always there with us, coaching us, being that mentor to the side.
“Obviously, we lost her, and I lost her sort of when I got into the England role.
“For me, going into the England role, I was like, I'm going to have her by my side. This is going to be awesome. I'm going to be able to get into the international stage and have her as my mentor, but obviously things happen.
“But for me she was the driving force for getting into coaching. She always said to all of us that when you're finished playing you have to give back.
“So that's huge, and now to see Hu [Te Huinga Selby-Rickit], Donna [Wilkins]… How many of those girls that she had coached to be now in the ANZ giving back I think is huge.”
Leota and Frew have spoken to the current players about Broughton to make sure they are aware of what she set up with the Sting and Steel in the past.
“When we were going through values and stuff, Wendy and I spoke about Robbie and her influence and how we got into coaching. One of our values is heart, but it's for Robbie Broughton.
“And so, we're trying to bring alive stories from people that have been in Invercargill, people that she's touched, so that these kids that didn't have the opportunity to have her in the presence are still passing on these stories about her and why she's so influential to Sting, Steel and the future going forward.”