1. Gains win games
Defence. It seems like such an easy thing, but in reality it is where the game is won or lost.
The Steel has struggled to pick up defensive gains across the court so far this season and that is killing its opportunities to pull back big scorelines. There needs to be more pressure applied outside the circle to stem the flow of ball heading into the opposition shooters. If the Steel players can sit in their structures longer, and set it up for those at the back, it will give the circle defenders an opportunity to have a fly. But they need to not be afraid of contesting the ball. Coming out of the circle to have a go never hurts, and while it might not result in a turnover straight away, it can put doubt in the feeders’ heads. Defenders Kate Burley (five) and Courtney Elliott (four) sit ninth and 10th for intercepts in the league, and Kate Heffernan (12) is ninth for deflections, but the volume needs to be lifted. Defensive pressure needs to be tempered with staying in play — Burley (37), Renee Savai’inaea (35) and Sam Winders (27) all sit in the top 10 for penalties.
2. Lacking links
When players lose their connections, things come undone. They showed in the final quarter against the Tactix what they can do — quick ball movement, treasuring possession, and more ease to the post — but they need to pull that together consistently. The Steel has been renowned for keeping possession, and resetting the ball on attack. But, at times, because the links are lacking, there is only one option to the ball, and no depth, so the players have to work harder to get to post. Of course, it is hard to strike up connections immediately when new shooter Eseta Autagavaia was added just a week before the season started. Attackers appeared to be more settled in their lines to Autagavaia against the Tactix, after a couple of weeks’ training with her under their belt, which is a good sign for the rest of the season. If they can focus on their pre-movements, structures and timing, and stay connected, things will fall into place.
3. Consistency is key
If the Steel can get the first two right, consistency should follow. The main problem is there have been moments of brilliance from the Steel — Kate Heffernan’s intercept and a thread-the-needle ball from Winders come to mind from Monday — but they have been paired with big lapses in judgement and an inability to execute when it counts. There are chunks of each quarter, across all games, where the Steel have failed to score for several minutes and let the opposition run away. Captain Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit spoke about it to Sky Sport following the Tactix game, but there is a lack of game awareness in crucial moments. When the Steel players pick up crumbs through the court, they struggle to recognise they need to push on and score from it, to put some pressure back on the opposition. One they get some flow through the court, they look strong, but it is a case of making sure they can pull that off for the entire game.
