They rattled them during the 61-52 loss in Invercargill in round two and had the game of the season to win 47-43 in Dunedin in round seven.
Netball writer Kayla Hodge pinpoints some areas that are key for another win.
Last time
Serina Daunakamakama made her first appearance for the Steel when they won in Dunedin. The former Mystics training partner opened up space for Kate Heffernan, using her speed to draw her defender wide. They worked the ball around and kept things short, which stunted the volume of ball the Mystics defenders were able to pick up. The attack line has been through plenty of wobbles this season — mainly down to some significant injuries — but if they can find that formula again, they can beat anyone on their day.
Through the court
Their workrate bringing the ball down the court needs to lift. Sometimes the Steel are caught waiting for someone else to do the work and drive to the ball but they cannot all stand back and wait for each other. Someone needs to take charge and go for it. Renee Savai’inaea does a huge amount of work bringing the ball down the court, but teams are catching on to her centre pass receives and her Steel team-mates cannot rely on her to do everything for them.
Up and in
The Steel shooters need to back themselves and just put the ball through the hoop. There have been a few troubles lately, and sometimes they are guilty of passing the ball around a little too much, but when they go straight to the post, they look good. At the start of the season, Grace Namana’s and Georgia Heffernan’s offloads were seamless and they were killing defenders. If they can find that link again, they will be away, and it catches defenders on the back foot.
Defence
Plain and simple — the Steel have to pick up ball. Against the Mystics in Dunedin, the Steel had 14 gains, seven intercepts, six rebounds and eight pick-ups and that played a big part in their win. Those statistics came from right across the court and they need more of that. Picking up the ball against the Mystics — especially with the return of Grace Nweke — is never easy, but it is doable. Come off the body, have a crack at the ball and even if it does not come off, it puts doubt in the feeder’s mind. But they need pressure right across the court, starting from their shooters down to the circle defence. They need to stop the flow of ball into Nweke before it gets anywhere near her.
