Nat Panagarry talks to Sky Sports on Loughborough's return to winning ways & a familiar foe
Panagarry: "There's a bond within the players... and a positive feel around the club with the way we are moving forward"
Monday 18 March 2019 18:40, UK
After an inconsistent start to the season, Loughborough Lightning are the Vitality Superleague's form team and they are relishing another showdown with Wasps.
Sara Bayman's team are making headway in this year's table, they host the champions in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Monday night as the competition's most in-form franchise.
Four successive wins, starting with a season-changing victory at Manchester Thunder, have changed Lightning's course and put them in the mix for the semi-finals but after Team Bath's victory on Saturday maximum points on Monday are all-important.
Captain Nat Panagarry admits the team have already been on something of a journey, having come together under a new director of netball with little in the way of a pre-season.
"There are a few familiar faces but we are a very different squad this year so we knew it would take a while to find those links but we always believed that once they started to grow and you can see it within our gameplay," she told Sky Sports.
Going from a player to coach has been a massive jump but with her style, she was such a workhorse as a player and she has been the same as a coach, she has slotted in really nicely and has that same belief in culture and values.<p>We are a very open club with players and coaches prepared to challenge each other and we are learning from her as well as her learning from us.
Bayman replaced Anna Carter at the helm and the high-profile departures of three key performers from last season in Beth Cobden, Shamera Sterling and Peace Proscovia meant it was always going to be a tough start to the 2019 season for Lightning, runners-up in each of the last two years.
That much was backed up by an inconsistent start of three defeats, each followed by a victory as the squad looked to find their way, as Panagarry explains.
"It hasn't just been about getting points on the board but after a shaky start, there is now a confidence and a belief that we are going in the right direction.
"When we look back to Super 10, I think Ella Clark and I had had just two or three training sessions, Mary Cholhok too due to her visa issues so there were a few of us who hadn't even had a pre-season.
"That's why it took time to settle but I think we are now starting to show people what we are capable of.
"It can be tough for all the franchises at the start of the year with new players and players on England duty so we know that every team is finding their feet but now as all of us grow it's making for a hugely competitive league."
It's a competition that has Wasps leading the way and the back-to-back champions are likely to be the team to beat again, a fact not lost on Lightning who have lost the last two Grand Finals to their Midlands rivals, as well as the season-opener at Super Ten.
"Having played each other twice in the Grand Final, the game has a really nice feel to it and the teams are so competitive against each other," Panagarry adds.
"Every time you face them you know you are coming among against a quality side, they have so much experience and so much depth and they have now been together for a third season.
"They have so many players within their squad that you are never quite sure what their starting seven will be but whatever team they put on court they have so much quality and you know they all fit the Wasps style of play.
"With Wasps, you know Rachel [Dunn] is going to be there as a target, their mid-court is full of calm steady players and their defence win a lot of ball.
"We will be looking to slow them down, disrupt the pace of their team and with home advantage and the fans behind us it's a game we all look forward to."
Loughborough's about-turn has coincided with a switch of position for Panagarry. More well-known for her exploits as a centre, Bayman has entrusted the England international with a switch to wing defence and after some getting used to its a challenge she has welcomed.
"It's been a bit of a challenge for me, but with our squad and how I can help the team I will do anything I can - and as a player it's good to take on something new.
"Learning a different role and how I can help the team in others ways than playing centre has been quite refreshing and added more strength to my game - it's actually something I've wanted to do, to improve my defensive pressure.
"At the start, I was getting offside quite a bit so I have had to learn to sit back a little bit, and be a little more patient while Ella, Jess and the rest go forward - it's also given me a chance to be a positive voice from a different side of the court."
It's that willingness to embrace a new challenge that has helped her and team-mates find the form that has made the franchise such a threat over the last couple of seasons - a fifth successive win on Monday night, against the team they want to do it against the most would underline them as contenders once again.
Watch live Vitality Netball Superleague when Loughborough Lightning host Wasps on Monday, March 18 live on Sky Sports Mix, Main Event & Action from 6.45pm. Also, Sky Sports will be showing every game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in July.
