She will be missed but the Steel will cope without shooter Daneka Wipiiti, coach Robyn Broughton insists.
Wipiiti is pregnant with her first child and will not take part in the remainder of the season.
Former squad member Megan Dehn has been called in to replace her ahead of a key ANZ Championship match against the Queensland Firebirds in Brisbane tonight.
The winner will gain a significant leg-up in the race to secure fourth spot and a place in the play-offs.
Winning on Australian soil has proved a fruitless endeavour for New Zealand sides.
If the Steel wants to overcome that hurdle, its attack end will have to adapt quickly to the change of personnel, Broughton said.
"Daneka has been playing really well and her shooting stats have been right up there," she said.
"So it is a big loss, but we have to move on."
Broughton was keeping tight-lipped about who would fill Wipiiti's shoes.
However, back-up shooter Julianna Naoupu came on for Wipiiti late in the Steel's loss to the West Coast Fever earlier this month.
It is likely Broughton was aware of Wipiiti's pregnancy and was working on succession planning some time ago.
Dehn, though, is an experienced player and the Steel tried to sign the Australian this season but had its application denied.
"I had Megan in the back of my mind straight away. She was part of the team last year and played really well for us. And she is an experienced head and, at this stage in the competition, you need experience."
Donna Wilkins will shoulder the scoring responsibilities and, for the sake of consistency, will likely stay at goal attack.
Naoupu has made good progress and is ready for more court time.
She is likely to start ahead of Leah Shoard and Dehn, both of whom are more suited to goal attack.
But expect Dehn to get some court time.
The Firebirds have a handy defence end led by Laura Geitz.
But it is down the other end where they pose the biggest threat.
Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken is the competition's leading scorer with 429 goals and, at 1.96m, she grabs most of the rebounds that come her way.
But what is an obvious strength is also a weakness.
The Firebirds are too reliant on the one shooter.
Shut Aiken down, you shut the Firebirds down.
"They do rely on her," Broughton said.
"But she is a great rebounder and has good ball handling skills. If she is on her game, well, you have to play well. She is going to be a force in netball."
Broughton was pleased with her side's form, despite a disappointing loss to the Fever and a second-half rally by the Mystics in Invercargill last week.
The Steel beat the Mystics 52-50 but led by as many as 12 goals during the match.
"The catch up was not good. We should not have allowed it but when you analyse it, it was just basic stuff. I thought they held on really well in the end."
The Steel has had its share of injury problems this season, with Megan Hutton (Achilles), Adine Wilson (calf) and Sheryl Scanlan (calf) all spending time on the sideline but Broughton can choose from a fit squad tonight.
