The trio, whose signatures were announced yesterday, fill spots in each third of the court in a squad that was looking anaemic but is now half full.
Shooter Selby-Rickit returns for a second season with the franchise, while defender Thayer earns her first ANZ Championship contract after impressing at the Steel's preseason tournament in Queenstown earlier this year.
Former Silver Ferns shooter Jodi Brown and midcourters Wendy Frew and Hayley Saunders have also signed for the Steel, which has a new set of coaches (Natalie Avellino and Janine Southby) and has seen a swag of its players jump ship.
Thayer, who grew up in Waikaka, near Gore, jumped at the chance to represent her home region and get her first taste of the transtasman league.
"I've always had a bit of a fire in my belly to see where I could go with netball, and playing for Steel earlier this year ignited that even more," Thayer said.
"It's definitely a big step up so my aim is simply to get a feel for what that next level up is like, hopefully get some game time and show people what I'm made of."
Thayer and Selby-Rickit will square off against each other on Saturday when their teams, University-Albion and Southern, meet in the Dunedin club final.
Tairi (23) was born and raised in Sydney but her parents are New Zealanders, meaning she can play as a local and the Steel can still recruit an import.
"My mum, Helen, grew up in Invercargill and I still have family there. It's a small world," Tairi said.
"I even made my ANZ Championship debut with the Swifts in Invercargill in 2009, so all the connections are there."
Her southern relatives were already passionate netball fans.
"When I made my debut they were there in the front row. They absolutely love it and, while they're great at supporting whoever I play for, they will be thrilled I'm actually playing for their home team now.
"It made it a lot easier when I was making my decision to know I had family links there - I think you do feel a stronger connection to a team and region because of that."
Tairi, a member of the Australian team that won the world under-21 title two years ago, is looking forward to a fresh start with the Steel.
"I'm just excited about this whole opportunity, experiencing a new netball environment and playing in a team with that Kiwi style of netball.
"My goals are just to play consistent netball and cement a spot in the starting seven. For me it's all about developing my game further week in and week out. This is such a tough competition and to excel at this level you need that consistent court time."
Selby-Rickit, a second-year College of Education student, said re-signing with the Steel "wasn't a hard decision to make" and she was eager to build on the experience gained in her rookie season.
