No one could describe the Magic franchise, under Dawson's leadership, as unsuccessful. This is the side who broke the Australian stranglehold on the transtasman netball competition, by beating the Vixens 41-38 in Melbourne in July. The Waikato-Bay of Plenty side became the first New Zealand team in the competition's five-year history to lift the trophy. The crucial role Dawson played in guiding the franchise to become the first New Zealand team to win the championship was rewarded with Tauranga Excellence in Business Leadership Award for 2012. Despite this success she missed out on top job when she had to reapply for the position under a new governing body. The job went to 43-year-old Aucklander Tim Hamilton. Two Tauranga board members, Shirley Baker and Paula Thompson, resigned in disgust over the decision and grassroots netball organisations, including Netball Rotorua, have already spoken out against the move. The franchise appeared to be on a sound financial footing, with Dawson playing a lead role in securing a major sponsorship deal with Kia Motors. Board chairman John Wiltshire says he can't comment on why Dawson, who has not yet publicly spoken about the issue, was passed over, other than to say Netball New Zealand had indicated it wanted a new job description for the role. There were a number of good candidates and they could only pick one. This is where it gets murky. How is it that Dawson, with all her success last season, didn't even make the final shortlist? It makes me