Players don't know if we have a job - Panagarry

Loughborough Lightning captain Natalie Panagarry says Netball Super League (NSL) players "don't know if we have a job" as clubs wait to find out if they will be involved in the 2025 relaunch.

In October, England Netball asked for expressions of interest to join the newly reformed league.

Franchises are expected to find out if they will be included before the current season ends in June.

"There's a lot of uncertainty at the minute," said Panagarry.

"We don't actually know if we have a job, come March or April we'll find out if we still have a franchise. That's really unnerving for us.

"England Netball and the Super League can't give us much information at the moment but we're using our player association [Netball Players Association] a lot - there's a lot of stress and anxiety for us," the former England centre told BBC Radio Leicester.

The NSL is the sport's elite domestic competition in the UK but currently operates semi-professionally with many players juggling full-time jobs or studying alongside their playing careers.

Loughborough are the defending champions, with the current season entering its fourth round on Friday.

The 2025 relaunch hopes to move towards professionalisation and create a more competitive division with tighter scorelines while reaching new audiences.

NSL managing director Claire Nelson told BBC Sport that a tender process for the 2025 league relaunch is underway.

"We must respect the confidentiality of that process, so unfortunately we have not been able to share details with the players at this time," she explained.

"We have consulted with players via the NPA in the lead up to the launch of our open tender process to ensure their views are integrated into the plans for 2025.

"We will continue to work in partnership with them to ensure all players are fully informed and engaged with, once we are able to share more information.

"But for now, we are fully focussed on delivering an incredible 2024 season and to bringing more exciting netball to even more fans than ever before."

Panagarry said the league as a product must be "addressed" if the relaunch plans are to be successful.

"It's really important to try and access new fans but we also need to look after the ones that we've got that have supported us this whole time," she said.

"The best product that I've been a part of was the Covid year when all the games were at a centralised venue and every game was televised from one venue.

"But I don't know what England Netball or the Super League are thinking - we have heard absolutely nothing as players, so we're hoping for as much information as the fans and hopefully it's the right step in the right direction for everyone."

The league's competitiveness is also a frequent topic of discussion with last season's semi-finalists securing their place in the last four with four rounds of the regular season remaining.

This season, there have already been several one-sided matches with Manchester Thunder beating Strathclyde Sirens by 40 goals in round three and Lightning achieving their biggest ever win over Team Bath - an 83-46 victory - in round two.

"As players we always say we want the Super League to be competitive, want the games to be closer. Some teams will be disappointed at the minute with their results and performances," said Panagarry.

"Last week we beat Bath and that's the most we've ever beaten them by in our history, that is disappointing for the league.

"We have to start hitting the ground running with every team being competitive and make sure we're putting a good brand of netball out there."