‘Hardest pill to swallow’: Netball star’s grief laid bare as club makes ‘heartbreaking’ call

As the Super Netball contract period comes to a close for 2026, the heartbreak of those left without a new deal has been revealed.

Only days after former Giant Maddie Hay admitted she hadn’t “gone out on my own terms”, ex-Maverick Lauren Parkinson shared her own “grief” on social media.

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Parkinson, who managed just one game in two seasons for the Mavericks after suffering an ACL tear in the 2024 pre-season, was not offered a new deal at the club who instead recruited Lightning defender Tara Hinchliffe for 2026 and promoted young gun Jessie Grenvold.

“Am I retired? The truth? Kind of feel like it. Do I want to be? Um f**k no!” Parkinson wrote.

“Countless hours of rehab, setbacks felt endless, mental battles left me questioning if I could make it, but I did.

“After 15 months, almost two seasons watching from the sidelines, returning to SSN and running on the court as a Maverick for the first time felt like Cloud 9. Now did I think it would be my only game in the Mavs dress? Or did I know it was my last time on an SSN court? No.

“If anything, it felt like I was just getting started.”

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Parkinson said she felt “heartbreak” when told she wouldn’t be offered a deal at the club that’s still searching for a new head coach after Tracey Neville’s exit.

The Mavericks will field a new-look side that lost more than half its playing squad for next season, leaving only four of their contracted 10 players – Kim Brown, captain Amy Parmenter, Shimona Jok and Molly Jovic.

Uneeq Palavi, Sacha McDonald and Jessie Grenvold were all promoted from within the club to full-time status for next year.

“It’s been very difficult to accept the fact that the sport I love doesn’t have space for me anymore,” she posted.

“After all the hard work we’d put in together, I was so disheartened to learn that I’d come to be seen as a risk.

“The hardest pill to swallow was feeling I was no longer worth the investment and the belief in the player I was building towards no longer felt mutual … I just can’t hide my disappointment in the decision to leave me out of the club’s future plans.

“I did envision finishing my career as a Mav … just not this way.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Hay, who was able to battle back from a serious hip injury that had limited her court time over the past few years.

“So I am officially re(f)ired!” she shared.

“It simply wouldn’t have fit the Maddie Hay plot line if I had have gone out on my own terms, but that’s what makes the story all the more interesting.

“It’s time for the next chapter (if you’re hiring, let me know).”

Parkinson and Hay are two of the nine athletes who were essentially dumped from Super Netball – going from a full-time deal to not being offered a contract for 2026.

Three of those nine – Hulita Veve, Tippah Dwan and Ashlee Barnett – were let go from the Firebirds.

Six replacement players were also left uncontracted while former Silver Fern Gina Crampton wasn’t offered another deal at the Giants – after not playing a game due to maternity leave.

For Parkinson, she’s bravely opened up on the “grief” she felt as her time as a professional netballer comes to an end.

“The best way I can describe it is: I was writing my story but someone took the pen and wrote ‘THE END’ before I even had a chance to finish the chapter,” she wrote.

“I think that’s what hurts the most, the choice not really feeling like my own.”

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The 27-year-old did make her way back through Super Netball’s Reserves campaign this season, helping the Mavericks reach the grand final.

The former Swift, Giant and Maverick went on to reveal just how “proud” she felt to never give up during that lengthy injury lay off, and that looking back she will instead celebrate what she had achieved.

Both the UK’s Netball Super League and New Zealand’s ANZ Premiership still have limited positions available for the 2026 season but both competitions come with import caps – something Super Netball does not have.