While netball is a team sport, it is the shooters who are at the sharp end and who come under the most scrutiny.
For Steel shooter Paula Griffin, who transferred south from the Pulse this season, the pressure has doubled this week.
The 22-year-old has made a slow start for the combined Otago-Southland team. Her combination with fellow shooter Daneka Wipiiti and her feeders has not been functioning at all well and she has the added pressure of playing against her old team-mates.
After back-to-back losses to the Northern Mystics and Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, the Steel simply must beat the Central Pulse in Porirua today.
"As a team we need to up the ante," Griffin said.
"We've been working really hard on combinations because we've got quite a few new combinations through court and they don't really happen overnight."
Griffin has come in for some criticism for her work around the court and, by her own admission, has not made the impact she would have liked.
"They [the combinations] are slowly coming together but it takes a little bit of time to work combinations. But, you know, personally I think I've started slow and the team has started slow.
"We know the last few games have not been our best and we are looking forward to playing at our best, and when we are playing our best we should be unstoppable."
The Pulse beat the Steel 59-42 and 57-54 during the annual pre-season tournament in Queenstown and no longer appears to be the easybeat it has been in the past.
Former Melbourne Vixens shooter Caitlin Thwaites gives the Wellington-based team more potency on attack. Defensively, the Pulse looks strong with Silver Ferns defender Katrina Grant propping up a back court which features Elizabeth Manu and Victoria Smith.
Promising midcourter Camilla Lees has plenty of experience around her with Daya Pritchard and Cushla Lichwark completing a useful line-up.
"They are definitely a lot stronger than they were last year and looked good when we played them in Queenstown," Griffin said.
"But we have to look at our game and at what we need to work on, and are really focused on what we need to do rather than focusing on them."
The Steel should have too much firepower. Silver Ferns defender Leana de Bruin has been in great form for the franchise, whether that be disrupting the opposition's supply of ball or pilfering it outright.
Wipiiti injured her ankle during the pre-season tournament and missed the opening game. She returned last week but had an off game against the Magic. She remains a threat, though, and gives the Steel an easy target up front. Her combination with wing attack Liana Leota has been an area of strength for the Steel.
Australian centre Natasha Chokljat is still nursing a calf injury and is hopeful she will make her debut for the Steel in its home game against the Pulse in Invercargill on March 14.
But there is plenty of cover in the midcourt with Wendy Frew, Erika Burgess and Sheryl Scanlan.
Former New Zealand Under-21 player Katarina Cooper was called into the squad as cover last week and will remain with the Steel until Chokljat returns.
• As a mark of respected for those affected by the Christchurch earthquake, the players and officials will wear black armbands and observe a moment's silence at the start of the match.
