Steel coach Robyn Broughton has said it before and repeated it again earlier this week.
There simply is no substitute for a good shooter.
"We should have never lost Megan Dehn," Broughton said.
"That was a biggie."
If it had been left up to the experienced coach, former Australian shooter Dehn would still be playing her netball in the South. Instead she is playing for the Auckland-based Northern Mystics, much to Broughton's dismay.
In her opinion the franchise got it wrong when it took a gamble filling its import slot with Australian midcourter Natasha Chokljat.
The Steel had hoped Dehn would gain New Zealand citizenship. But when she ran into difficulties, the team was left with a really good midcourter but down an experienced shooter.
While it is still very early days in the ANZ Championship, the combined Otago-Southland appears to be paying for the miscalculation.
Its attack end looked woefully ill-equipped in a humbling 51-34 loss to the Northern Mystics in Auckland on Monday and there is no relief in sight.
The Steel plays the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in Rotorua tomorrow and the shooters will have to deal with the world's best defender, Casey Williams.
Williams' ability to pluck passes out of the air and disrupt the flow of ball into the shooting circle creates havoc for the competition's best attacking sides, let alone a team ravaged by injury with Daneka Wipiiti (ankle), Chokljat (calf) and Sheryl Scanlan (foot) all missing the opening game.
For the Steel, much will depend on whether Wipiiti wins the race to be fit. The Silver Ferns back-up shooter rolled her ankle in a pre-season match and, if she is ruled out, 19-year-old Otago shooter Te Paea Selby-Rickit will partner former Silver Fern Paula Griffin.
It is a new combination and the pair struggled against the Mystics defensive line-up of Anna Scarlett, Rachel Rasmussen and Kayla Cullen.
Selby-Rickit found the step up from age group netball and the national championship tournament to be mountainous, and Griffin, who is on her third franchise in four years, needs to get more involved. She appeared to lack energy and her combination with wing attack Liana Leota was hesitant and sloppy.
Defensively, though, the Steel looks sound with Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit and Leana de Bruin forming a very useful combination. It is an area of strength for the Steel and the pair can probably afford to double-team Irene van Dyk.
If they can shut down van Dyk's supply of ball they might be able to rattle the Magic and put pressure on the relatively inexperienced Julianna Naoupu and Jamilah Gupwell, who will support van Dyk in the shooting circle.
Steel midcourter Chokljat is struggling with a calf injury and will be sidelined for the next two weeks. But the Steel will still have an experienced midcourt trio of Leota, Wendy Frew and Erika Burgess.
The Magic will probably have the edge in the centre court with Silver Fern Laura Langman combining with experienced Australian wing defence Peta Scholz and wing attack Frances Solia.
The teams have met on seven occasions, with the Magic prevailing five times.
