‘‘Learn from it and just move on,'' Coffin said.
It was indeed a performance best consigned to the scrap-heap as the Steel found new ways to hand the ball over to the opposition in Adelaide.
The brittle performance could not have been in greater contrast to last week's effort in toppling the previously unbeaten Canterbury Tactix.
The Steel's hopes of claiming victory on Australian soil effectively went up in smoke in a five minute period in the first quarter of the match.
After trading goal for goal in the early minutes, the Thunderbirds put their foot down and netted eight consecutive goals to lead 13-4.
From then on the Steel was forced to play catch-up and, judging by the error rate, it was always going to be a tough ask.
‘‘We got off to a really bad start and it shows you can't afford to do that against a classy side like the Thunderbirds,'' Coffin told Sky Sports.
‘‘It was quite embarrassing in that first quarter, to be perfectly honest. There were too many nerves, too many turnovers. I'd hate to go back and have a look at how many turnovers we had.''
Coffin said after four weeks on the road her team was looking forward to getting back to Invercargill and some vocal hometown support.
‘‘First of all we need to dump this game, learn from it and just move on. ‘‘There wasn't a heck of a lot that went wrong. When you throw the ball away, you can't win a game.''
Coach Robyn Broughton responded to the Steel's first quarter debacle, where it trailed 6-15 at the break, by giving Otago's Jess Tuki her first taste of the ANZ championship.
But the goal attack's first touch perhaps summed up the match.
The ball was ripped from her hands by Australian international Mo'onia Gerrard who, along with English test player Geva Mentor, was making life miserable for the Steel's shooters.
Last week's star, Daneka Wipiiti, started slowly but began to find her range late in the second quarter and at one stage netted three in a row to give the Steel some brief momentum.
It was not just at the attacking end where the Steel battled.
Both goal keep Megan Hutton and goal defence Katrina Grant appeared to struggle with the speed of Thunderbirds' shooters Kristen Hughes and Natalie Medhurst.
By half-time, the home team led 27-16 but, tellingly, was shooting about 90% while the Steel could muster just 70%.
The second half proved a much closer contest.
Broughton rang the changes, with Megan Dehn returning for Tuki, Wendy Telfer replacing Debbie White at wing defence and Erika Burgess swapping for Grant.
The changes initially appeared to work, as the Steel closed the gap to six.
But the Thunderbirds quickly regathered their composure, extending the lead to 11 by the end of the third quarter.
The final spell continued to be goal-for-goal but with minutes remaining, and the Steel unable to make any headway, Broughton conceded defeat and cleared her bench, giving Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit and Julianna Naoupu game time.
The Steel now heads to Invercargill for its first home match of the tournament with two wins and two losses, both against Australian teams, under its belt.
Broughton will be hoping hometown support will be the tonic for her team to bring some much-needed confidence back to the court.
