By Milly McEvoy, Sportsbeat
Reinga Bloxham has laid down the law ahead of her first season in charge of Cardiff Dragons.
The Kiwi coach arrives in South Wales having won two titles with Southern Steel in her native New Zealand and is now tasked with leading Dragons into a new era.
The Cardiff-based Netball Super League team are one of eight teams set to embark on a new era for domestic netball in the UK.
“I was really clear with what I wanted in terms of the expectations I had for the team,” she said.
“The first meeting I had I just laid it out to them and said this why I have come here, this is what I expect. Are you open to coming along on the ride with me? How open are you going to be?
“I was pretty direct with that. I know what a high-performance team needs it was just about, can you give me what I want?
“It doesn’t matter what team I am coaching or what year I am coming into it. It doesn’t matter if it is a school team or an NSL team, or a team in the ANZ.
“I am here to win, I am not here to participate, I am not here for us to just look good out there.
“I laid that down right from the beginning that that is my expectation. When we go into every game, my expectation is that we are going to win it.
“I am aiming to make top four and then hopefully from then, everything else is a bonus.”
Bloxham takes over from legendary Australian head coach Jill McIntosh who has remained at Dragons as a consultant for the 2025 season.
Cardiff Dragons finished eighth in the 10-team NSL table last year and Bloxham has ambitions of taking them to a first final for 12 years.
She added: “When I got the Cardiff Dragons job, they said ‘look, we’ve got one stipulation’ and that was that Jill would be a mentor.
“I thought, this is fabulous, she has won a netball World Cup twice in a row and gold medals at Commonwealth Games.
“I was really excited about the opportunity to be able to work alongside her, be collaborative with her and learn from her.
“I met her when she arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I am really enjoying my time with her.
“She is very thorough, she is very straight to the point but has really made me think about what I am doing and questioned what I am doing, which is great in terms of reflection and growth as a coach.
“You want somebody to be able to look at how you are doing things critically, so you know that you’ve got your areas of strength and areas of development. It has been a great journey so far and we’ll see how it goes.”
Cardiff Dragons first game of the 2025 Netball Super League season sees them welcome London Mavericks to the House of Sport on 14 March.
The Netball Super Cup takes place on 8 March, before the regular rounds begin on 14 March. For tickets go to the NSL website
