Reinga Bloxham will make sure her Southern Steel side "really reflects" and takes the lessons out of its big 64-38 loss to the Northern Mystics in Auckland on Saturday.
The Steel struggled to get into the game from the first centre pass and was guilty of playing into the Mystics’ hands.
"I think, to me, that’s probably the more disappointing thing because we weren’t sort of able to showcase the netball Steel style that we want to be able to do," the head coach said after the game.
"We’ll really reflect, have a good look at ourselves and pull apart the pieces that we know that we’re much better at.
"Sometimes when you have a big loss like that it can damage your soul and confidence more than anything else so it’s about picking ourselves up and doing it reasonably quickly."
It was not the opening game to the ANZ Premiership the team envisioned, and after gaining a couple of turnovers in the first few minutes, it began to unravel.
Its connections fell and players worked in isolation, resulting in the Steel only scoring three goals in the first 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the court, Grace Nweke helped the Mystics to a 13-3 lead.
Without captain Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit, who missed the game with an injury niggle, the Steel gave the Mystics too much room to move and failed to put enough pressure over the ball before it got into the oppositions circle.
There was more confidence on the feed towards the end of the quarter.
Eseta Autagavaia came out of the circle, pushed a lovely bounce pass in to Georgia Heffernan who drove along the base.
The Mystics led 22-10 in the first quarter and continued its run in the second.
It took nearly five minutes for the Steel to get on the board in the second, but once Jess Allan entered the game the attacking end started to work better.
She created more space in the circle, allowing Georgia Heffernan to come into the game more.
Kate Burley came into the game more at goal keeper, and once she adjusted, she used her footwork and ground it out to put more pressure on Nweke.
"I thought she got hand to a couple of really good ones and managed to get a couple of rebounds as well which is a real positive for us going forward," Bloxham said.
"It’s probably just the fact we weren’t able to slow the ball down as it was coming into that shooting circle to sort of give her more opportunities to do that."
The Mystics continued to extend its lead, taking a 36-18 buffer at the half.
Looking to dump the first half and start fresh, the Steel had some nicer touches in the third.
Kate Heffernan was a general for the Steel in the middle, having a good battle against Tayla Earle.
But Mystics ball speed was deadly, and that matched with its range defence, allowed the home side to extend to a 52-28 lead.
With Nweke taking a seat on the bench — until she made a bizarre introduction at goal attack late in the game — the Steel had a better final quarter.
There was also a raft of changes for the Steel, better defensive pressure and more urgency on the feed.
The Steel will be more pleased with its finish, losing the final quarter by only two goals.
Its focus will now turn to its round two double header against the Pulse (Sunday) and the Stars (Monday).
ANZ Premiership
The scores
Northern Mystics 64
Grace Nweke 45/47, Monica Falkner 12/17, Filda Vui 7/8.
Southern Steel 38
Eseta Autagavaia 9/13, Georgia Heffernan 14/19, Jess Allan 15/19.
Quarter scores: 22-10, 36-18, 52-28.
