The midcourter spent the past couple of seasons leading the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic as it navigated through some tough losing streaks
Her move to the Southern Steel has brought the same, with the team in unchartered waters, losing the first four games of its season.
Today poses a chance for the tides to change for the Steel, when it hosts the Magic in Invercargill.
And, obviously, it gives Winders an opportunity to come up against her former side.
"It’s going to be a good one, I think," Winders said.
"Obviously I still have a lot of friends in that team and we all have friends in all the team’s around the country.
"When you get on court there’s no lovelost, for sure, but it’s always going to be a physical battle."
Magic is coming off an extra-time thriller, pipping the Northern Mystics 57-56, after being down by 10 goals at the first quarter.
That win — Magic’s first of the season — will have instilled a lot of confidence in the visitors, spearheaded by Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio.
The Steel fell 55-38 to the Tactix on Monday, but there were improvements across the court, especially during the final quarter which the Steel won 11-6.
Both the Steel and Magic finished strongly, making for an interesting match-up today.
"I think what they did really well against the Mystics is they were very patient with the ball, they didn’t make unnecessary risks on their feed.
"They just looked after the ball and they weren’t flashy.
"They just played very good basic netball.
"I actually think we can be better at that — take a leaf out of their book and do a bit of that ourselves — and knowing that like if they play like that on attack, we have to set ourselves up on defence better to have a go at balls and not just expect them to make mistakes."
Ultimately, Winders wants to keep the game tight.
"I just want to be able to put pressure on and I want us to, not just on D, but put pressure on them when we’re on attack.
"I think that’s kind of where we haven’t been so great. We allow ourselves to lose the ball on attack which means they don’t have pressure on their attack."
There is no denying it has been a tough start to the Steel’s season, but the scoreline was "irrelevant" now and players had to remain positive.
She had the "advantage or disadvantage" of being part of teams in slumps and could use her experiences to help others.
"I know how to look at my own game and reflect on it in a positive way, because otherwise you do get really down in the dumps.
"Obviously it’s not great to lose, but it’s a really great skill to have, to be able to build that resilience. The only way you can build resilience is by having failures.
"That’s actually what we’re building here at the moment. Obviously not intentionally, but that’s the positive out of it and being able to get back up and reflect positively on the game and look forward to the next game as another opportunity to grow."
Courtney Elliott will bring up her 50th national league match against the Magic.
ANZ Premiership
Stadium Southland, 7.15pm today
Southern Steel: Eseta Autagavaia, Georgia Heffernan, Jess Allan, Sam Winders, Ivari Christie, Kate Heffernan, Renee Savai’inaea, Kate Burley, Courtney Elliott, Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit
Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic: Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Bailey Mes, Ivana Rowland, Claire Kersten, Simmon Wilbore, Georgie Edgecombe, Charlotte Elley, Amy Christophers, Erena Mikaere, Georgia Takarangi
