The heavily bandaged midcourter made her return to competitive netball in a pre-season game against the Canterbury Tactix at the Queenstown Events Centre at the weekend.
She had been sidelined for six months after corrective surgery on her left shoulder but made an immediate impact, threading some fine passes into the shooting circle and doing some solid work on defence.
The Tactix won the match comfortably, but the 59-43 defeat did represent some progress.
The Steel lost all five of its games during the annual pre-season tournament, and some by large margins.
With Silver Ferns Liana Leota and Leana de Bruin and former Australian international Natasha Chokljat confined to the sidelines with injuries, and Frew missing the opening day to attend a wedding, coach Robyn Broughton had to whistle in a host of replacement players and rely heavily on her bench players.
The Steel sides that were taking the court had only a vague resemblance to the team that can be expected to start in ANZ Championship matches.
As a result, the home side took some humiliating poundings.
With the compressed nature of the competition this season, teams will have to go to the bench more often and that could be a problem for the Steel.
Its depth was ruthlessly exposed.
"It is certainly going to be pretty tough and it is important to have 12 strong players," Frew said.
"We've been missing four of our main players, so it has been a chance for the younger players to step up.
"I'm sure some of them did but they are probably a bit rusty at the start of the season and there is certainly a lot to work on."
Asked about her side's perceived lack of depth, especially at the attacking end, where an injury to either Paula Griffin or Daneka Wipiiti would stretch the team's resilience to breaking point, Frew responded: "That is a hard question," and paused before continuing.
"I think Te Paea [Selby-Rickit] and Sophie [Fenwick] have a lot of potential but, if they get on, it is going to be a big step up.
"They certainly need to be watching and learning off the two senior shooters out there.
"If there is an injury, I'm sure they will step up."
Frew said it was up to the experienced players to lead the way and the top Steel line-up looks relatively strong on paper.
Frew will likely drop back from centre to make room for Chokljat, with Leota at wing attack and de Bruin and Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit in the defensive circle.
