Maria Folau is a courageous woman who is sticking to the job at hand of helping the Silver Ferns prepare for the netball World Cup, coach Noeline Taurua says.
The Silver Ferns are in the middle of warm-up matches for the World Cup, to be held in England in two weeks, just as Folau has come under fire for her support of husband Israel, the former superstar Wallaby who is embroiled in a contract dispute with Rugby Australia over divisive tweets.
It's led two major netball sponsors on both sides of the Tasman to publicly distance themselves from Folau.
Taurua told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking it had been hard on Folau, but the Silver Fern shooter was holding up.
"She is a courageous woman and, at the end of it, she's married to her husband and obviously loves him," she said.