It was another frustrating outing for the Steel, falling 55-38 to the Mainland Tactix - a bitterly disappointing loss in front of its loyal home crowd.
But the Steel finished on a high, winning the fourth quarter - its first quarter win of the season - and restricted the Tactix to just six goals.
But mostly it was the same story: players working extra hard, often running without making direct movements to shake off defenders, to get the ball in to the circle and being too far off the body and in chase mode on defence.
Silver Ferns defenders Jane Watson and Karin Burger were smothering in defence for the Tactix, snaffling up any cross court balls and putting the pressure on the Steel’s attack.
Kimiora Poi and Laura Malcolm were slick, finding plenty of space to hit the circle edge, while Aliyah Dunn and Te Paea Selby-Rickit split the circle and punished at the post.
The beaming smile of Saviour Tui was a relief to see back on court for the Steel.
She looked confident - after working her way back from a knee injury - had some strong takes and was never afraid to go to the post. She was on managed time, playing the first and fourth quarter this week.
The Steel had a better start to the third quarter, gaining more ball on defence.
Sam Winders, who started the game at wing attack, slotted back in to her more familiar wing defence and put more pressure on Poi. She also brought the ball down the court with more punch.
You can not deny the fight from the Steel. Players were gutsy, doing great things in patches - but they were far and few between, letting the Tactix pounce on its basic errors.
The fourth stanza was the best for the Steel.
Centre Kate Heffernan put in some great feeds to Tui, stole some intercepts, and her sister, Georgia, looked more settled at goal attack, with the a familiar combination in Tui.
The home side went on a five-goal run, here were more pick-ups on defence between Kate Burley and Courtney Elliott, and more hustle when bringing the ball down court.
It is those moments that the Steel need to pull together for a full 60 minutes and not let teams get on top of them early.
In the first quarter, the Steel flooded the middle channel, keeping the midcourters off the circle edge early.
But once the Tactix found its timing, it put the foot down and ran out to a 17-9 lead at the first quarter.
The Steel looked solid with Tui at the back, setting more screens for Georgia Heffernan to play off.
The Tactix continued its onslaught in the second quarter, having good depth and length on the ball on attack and its connections on defence were sublime.
The visitors, tipped to win the competition this season, were sensational and a new team from its loss to the Mystics last week.
