By Stephanie Smarrelli
The celebrations aren't scripted.
Neither are the post-match microphone takeovers, the dancing or the big personalities that have become synonymous with the Melbourne Mavericks.
For head coach Gerard "Gez" Murphy, they're simply a reflection of a philosophy that puts players first.
“Player-first, that's how I coach and lead teams,” Murphy told netball.com.au.
“That’s the way Mavs operate as well, its very heavily player orientated.
“The players get input and help drive the direction which was pretty consistent with my culture and values of how I coach and what I like to see athletes doing.
“I let them take on ownership of tools and strategies to execute in a game when they need to and give them the confidence to be bold and have a go at doing it.”
It's an approach that quickly resonated with a new-look Mavericks squad in Murphy's first season as head coach, guiding the club to its first finals appearance while establishing one of the competition's most recognisable identities.
But Murphy insists he simply slotted into the club, that the side had already laid the groundwork before his arrival.
"The girls had already done quite a bit of team building, that was one of the benefits of having existing staff,” Murphy said.
“My goal was not to change too much of what they already had been working on in terms of team cohesion, principles and values, I just kept adding and tweaking them.”
Having worked alongside assistant coach Nicole Richardson during the opening weeks of pre-season, Murphy already had an understanding of the playing group before officially taking over.
Murphy coaches with a player-first mentality.
"The focus was getting the girls and myself to build a relationship about the game plan, style of play and the expectations on skills and strategies that I was hoping to implement,” he said.
"It was really about building that part, the understanding of it and then the trust to go with it.
“Some parts were a bit challenging early for some of the girls, there were lots of new tools, strategies and structures but we worked on that and it really improved and everyone got on board.
"I had been there assistant coaching for the first month in November with Richo so when I was announced in December, it wasn't a huge shock to them because we'd already had some interaction and they'd got a sense of what I was like."
For Murphy, that trust goes beyond implementing a game plan.
He wants every player to feel comfortable expressing themselves and acknowledged that looks different for every member of the team.
Whether that's someone like Uneeq Palavi embracing the spotlight or a quieter teammate leading in a different way, Murphy believes authenticity is more important than conformity.
"The balance is that the players have to make sure the way they're expressing themselves is also helping their performance,” he said.
“Some of the team are not very expressive, they're pretty quiet, you'll see there's certain team members who are a lot more vocal and up and about.
“While the others get involved, they tend to be a bit quieter and that's also completely fine and welcome because that's how they perform their best and that's what motivates them.
“There’s not an expectation that everyone is going to be loud, adventurous and bold in a traditional sense by being completely expressive on the court, boldness is about being yourself.
"Part of each player’s responsibility is to reflect on that too, they're accountable if they want to do something different and the expectation is that they reflect on whether that was successful or not.”
Murphy encourages the players to be themselves.
That same philosophy also underpins Murphy's approach to player development.
Rather than waiting for the perfect moment, he believes young athletes need genuine opportunities at Suncorp Super Netball level to understand what is required.
"Part of my coaching philosophy is to make sure that people have an opportunity to get out there,” he said.
“It's not always easy to do, you can't always do that but to try at least intentionally to give them time to settle into a game and get to understand the speed and the style of what's required is important to help reset them into training.
"They realise ‘I actually need to keep working on this’ which can be hard when you're sitting on the bench as a junior player or a new player and you're not getting a good test of where you sit and what you need to work on.
“It's not theoretical, we can point to real moments in a game and say, ‘here you are actually behind the play’ and ‘this is what we're working on now, this is what you need to keep working on’.
“Giving them the opportunity helps to cement feedback and areas to work on while also giving them belief that they can do it when they do come on and they can expect to be given a chance to settle in and have a go.”
That same philosophy influences Murphy's approach on match day.
Changes aren't simply reactions to what's unfolding - they're rehearsed to an extent.
"We practice making the changes during training and our match plays and then from preseason we start building the combinations,” he said.
"Generally, I like to make proactive changes, if we've done well and then things have flattened out and we're not really making inroads in defence or attack to have a go and give them a go in those moments and then also make changes to win a game or to swing a game and be a bit bolder with that.
“It does put people under pressure, but every moment in the game is pressure.
The Mavericks empowered to take their opportunities out on the court.
“We try to emphasise that, I know the last 10 minutes of the game is about the outcome of the game, but the first 10 minutes, the second 10 minutes, every moment is a pressure moment and moments we want to focus on and perform in.
"You come on, try to do your job the best you can and beat your opponent or contribute to winning your combination.”
For all the tactical discussions, Murphy ultimately hopes the Mavericks leave supporters with something more memorable than wins and losses.
“People are enjoying the style of play, that we're enabling the athletes to bring their character to entertain and build netball as a sport and get more fans in, because that's ultimately what we want to keep growing the sport,” he said.
“Our way of doing that is through entertainment, character and our game style.
“So thanks to everyone who's jumped on board and are already members for next year, we've had a really great growth in support for us and positive energy.
“It's been lovely to see people messaging saying they haven't watched SSN for ages but love watching the Mavs.
“It’s really good that we're having an impact and are getting more people in to watch the game.”
For Murphy, that's the goal.
Winning matters, so does continual improvement.
But if the Mavericks can do both while allowing every player to be unapologetically themselves, he'll know they're building something that extends well beyond the scoreboard.
