Di Honey goes to the next level

By Amelia Barnes

After 12 seasons as the Melbourne Vixens’ assistant coach, Honey has assumed the top job, inheriting a team stacked with Australian Diamonds who just won the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) championship.

Her task: to lead the same team to back-to-back titles, in a competition that’s just witnessed its most eventful signing period to date, including an influx of internationally experienced New Zealand athletes.

But Honey isn't feeling the pressure. “I’m honestly not,” she said. “I have the best team in the league.”

An Australian Diamonds athlete from 1985 to 1988, Honey later entered the coaching world, taking up a specialist position with the national team before joining the Vixens in 2014.

She hoped to eventually become an SSN head coach – even expressing interest in positions at Collingwood Magpies and Sunshine Coast Lightning over the years – but only now, with family commitments aligned, is the timing right.

Honey’s coaching favours strong technical skills as instilled in her by “the best of the best” coaches Joyce Brown OAM and Norma Plummer AM, who she trained under as an athlete.

She’s also focused on the mental side of the game, ensuring athletes can execute in pressure moments. “I’m big on developing a really calm and thinking athlete,” Honey said. “Because in those pressure situations, it really has to come into play – just look at the grand final.”

While other SSN clubs have signed up to six new players for 2026, Honey has the benefit of a familiar environment and working with an almost unchanged lineup of players. “It's the same group, so I'm looking at that as a bonus. I don't have to bond them – they’re all well and truly connected on and off the court.”

She will be joined by new assistant coach Kate Upton, who brings experience as the former assistant coach of the Collingwood Magpies and assistant coach of the 21/U Australian team competing in this month’s World Youth Cup.

Upton and Honey completed their High Performance Coaching Accreditation at the same time and share a netball philosophy shaped by years working within Victoria’s player pathway.

“I think that's going to be a real benefit for Netball Victoria, that we’re both very similar in wanting to develop these players for the future,” said Honey.

As the Vixens’ head coach, Honey’s priority is further strengthening the club’s culture, influenced by her days as an athlete, and now a parent in a family of elite sportspeople.

Honey’s daughter Tayla was a contracted Vixen from 2019-2020, Olivia is a sprinter who has competed nationally, Josh is a former Carlton AFL player, and her husband Neil won bronze in pole vault at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.

These experiences have shaped Honey’s coaching style and how she communicates with athletes. “Some coaches are so ‘business’ the whole time and it can be a bit stifling for the athletes,” she explained. “I think even though you've got the best of the best, you can still have a laugh.”

On match day, Honey expects to be “95 per cent calm” to instil confidence in her athletes and inspire them to take risks on the court. “I’ll be encouraging them to have a go, relax, let it go, make a mistake, and get on with it,” she said.

Taking the reins of a championship-winning side is no small assignment, but Honey is uniquely placed to continue the Vixens’ legacy, and push for a record third SSN title.

With a stable roster, her challenge is less about rebuilding and more about sustaining excellence – and finding the edge that keeps the team ahead.

“I’m just so happy to inherit a team with such good values and standards that Simone [McKinnis] set. I’ve learnt so much from her and she’s been a great mentor for me,” Honey said.

“I won’t be throwing everything out, because it’s not broken. We just won a premiership.”

ALL IN. ALL VIXEN.