By Hannah Blackwell
The struggling Celtic Dragons have turned to Jill McIntosh, a former coach and captain of the Australian national netball team, to try and provide a lift.
The Dragons, who are currently bottom of the Netball Super League, have appointed McIntosh as their new head coach in succession to the recently departed Danielle Titmuss-Morris.
The Cardiff-based franchise have only won one game out of 11 matches played in the current season, and finished 10th out of 11 teams in the last campaign.
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The Dragons are onto their fifth coach is as many years with McIntosh following Titmuss-Morris, Tania Hoffman, Julie Hoornweg and Trish Wilcox.
In those five years, they have finished bottom, seventh, bottom, bottom and bottom-but-one.
McIntosh, aged 67, has an impressive career in coaching, having been in charge of the Australian Diamonds team from 1995 to 2003, leading them to two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and two World Championships.
She has also held head coach positions at the Western Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Institute of Sport, as well as coaching Australia Under-21s.
Former Australia coach and captain Jill McIntosh has taken over as Celtic Dragons head coach.#BBCNetball
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) April 17, 2023
McIntosh has worked with various teams since coaching Australia, including Central Pulse in the ANZ, Singapore, and Jamaica, where she worked as technical director and head coach for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 2015 World Cup in Sydney.
Natalie Peperell will remain as the Dragons’ assistant coach under McIntosh, while Denise Ellis will join the franchise as a technical coaching staff member.
Ellis is currently working with Gibraltar Netball and has previously served as the Welsh Feathers head coach, leading the Wales national team at the 2007 World Cup.
In recognition of her contributions to netball, McIntosh was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2020.
Celtic Dragons lost to Loughborough Lightning in Round 12 of the Netball Super League on Monday night.
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