Obviously, it is not the way players envisioned their season panning out — the Steel has yet to pick up a win in 11 games.
But Heffernan has solidified the goal attack bib as her own, is getting her first opportunity for regular court time, and has done a mountain of work to keep the Steel in the fight.
"I’m really enjoying the court time," Heffernan said.
"I’m really enjoying getting good minutes every week, and obviously it’s probably the hardest netball I’ve ever played, so it is really good for me.
"But I think it’s just frustrating because we know that we are in it and we just let it blow out."
Heffernan (23), who debuted for the Fast5 Ferns last year, has been tireless in the circle, slotting 170 goals and grabbing 15 rebounds.
But it is her work outside of the circle — which often goes unnoticed — where her game has really grown.
She leads the Steel for centre pass receives (141) and has 162 feeds, 19 pick-ups, 11 deflections and seven rebounds to her name, as her defensive game develops.
"I think it’s been a big area of my game that I’ve wanted to improve this year.
"For us [attackers] to be able to start that pressure and get some ball it’s really good.
"We’ve worked on that so hard, being able to know what ball we want to be going for and where we want to be directing them, so that’s a real positive."
It has been an adjustment for Heffernan, teaming up with Saviour Tui — who has also shone when injury free — compared with last year, when the two split goal attack responsibilities.
"I think it’s just been hard because poor Savs has been in and out with injuries, so it’s been trying to build that connection with her.
"It’s there at times — it just isn’t there all the time.
"But I am really enjoying it and I love playing with Saviour.
"We do some really good stuff. We had a really good understanding, so we just need to keep finding the good stuff more."
While it has been a disappointing season, Heffernan is not letting it bring the team down.
"We all really enjoy each other’s company and we do a lot of fun stuff away from the court to try and make sure we aren’t bringing the negativity to the team vibe.
"But it’s hard. I think there’s just frustration there at the moment.
"It’s frustration at ourselves, frustration at each other, and I think that is something that is really hard, but we’re not letting it bring the vibe down which is good."
The Steel suffered a shattering one-goal loss to the Central Pulse last week and produced by far its best netball of the season.
It desperately needs to hold on to that form as it gets on the road, again, for the final double-header.
You could argue the Steel has has a tough draw with all three of its double-headers on the road this season, while other teams have benefited from their home crowd.
The Steel takes on the Northern Mystics in Auckland tonight and will need to shut down little general Peta Toeava to stop the flow of ball into shooter Grace Nweke.
It will then head to Hamilton to play the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic on Monday.
"We just want to keep building," Heffernan said.
"We want to get a win. We really want to and we want to upset some teams, and that would be just really good to finish on a high."
ANZ Premiership
Trusts Arena, 7pm
Southern Steel: Eseta Autagavaia, Georgia Heffernan, Saviour Tui, Sam Winders, Ivari Christie, Kate Heffernan, Renee Savai’inaea, Kate Burley, Courtney Elliott, Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit.
Northern Mystics: Grace Nweke, Filda Vui, Monica Faulkner, Peta Toeava, Tayla Earle, Katie Te Ao, Michaela Sokolich-Beatson, Phoenix Karaka, Carys Stythe, Sulu Fitzpatrick.
