• Australian outfit simply too skilful
Coaches often fall back on the old "It was an off-night" or "We didn't get the bounce of the ball" set of tired excuses.
Steel coach Robyn Broughton did not have that luxury last night.
Her side was routed 56-41 by an impressive Queensland Firebirds outfit at Stadium Southland.
It was the first time an Australian side had beaten the Steel in an ANZ Championship game in New Zealand and Broughton was left clutching for reasons why her side was so far off the pace.
Reading from the statistics sheet, Broughton took solace from her side's effort in the second half, and particularly the last quarter which the Steel won 10-9.
But the statistics from the opening 30min did not make good reading for Steel fans.
"We lost the first half by 13," Broughton said, adding it "simply was not good enough".
"It is too hard to play catch-up at this level. You've got to be more hardened mentally."
It was the second heavy defeat in consecutive weeks for the combined Otago-Southland franchise.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds beat the Steel by 17 goals in Australia last week.
The Steel is not the only New Zealand team struggling to compete with the Australian sides.
The Northern Mystics suffered a 71-54 defeat to the Firebirds last week and the Central Pulse was smashed 75-40 by the Thunderbirds in Wellington on Saturday.
While the New Zealand netball public is waking up to the gulf in class between the sides on either side of the Tasman, no-one expected the Steel to be beaten by such a large margin.
The two previous games had been decided by just a few goals.
But right from the outset it was apparent the Firebirds were more polished.
They looked slicker through the midcourt with underrated centre Lauren Nourse having a busy opening period.
She used the lob to great effect, finding lanky Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken with consummate ease, despite the best efforts of Steel defender Leana de Bruin.
Aiken was not at her accurate best, missing, by anyone's standards, some simple attempts.
But the 1.96m 21-year-old used every bit of her 6cm height advantage over de Bruin to snatch several rebounds.
Nourse, Sarah Wall and Clare McMeniman made the Steel midcourt trio of Liana Barrett-Chase, Wendy Frew and Erika Burgess look decidedly pedestrian.
Frew was guilty of some loose passing and where the Steel was wonky, the Firebirds were clinical, converting turnovers efficiently to mount a 18-9 lead by the first break.
Goal attack Natalie Medhurst was superb for the Firebirds.
Her ability to shoot from a distance or fake and fire a pass to Aiken confounded the Steel defence.
By halftime she had drilled 17 of her 20 attempts, made four assists and run Steel goal defence Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit ragged.
Facing a 13-goal deficit, Broughton made a change to the attack end, replacing Daneka Wipiiti with Julianna Naoupu.
What the diminutive (1.74m) shooter lacks in height she more than makes up for in enthusiasm, and she injected some much-needed energy and movement into the game.
It made some difference but not enough.
There was just no hiding the disparity in class between the two teams.
Experienced defender Sheryl Scanlan sat out the match, having aggravated her calf injury.
Whether she plays a part in the remainder of the campaign must now be in doubt.
•Northern Mystics rediscovered their backbone in Australia last night as they battled hard before succumbing 62-51 to defending champions Melbourne Vixens in Melbourne, NZPA reported.
The Vixens were at full strength, wing attack Chelsey Nash and defender Julie Corletto back from injury and Natasha Chokljat again marshalling play from centre.
The benefit was apparent as the Vixens dominated the Mystics midcourt in the opening quarter to lead 17-10 at the end of the first spell.
The Mystics through-court defence was vastly improved from last week's disappointing effort, when they succumbed without a whimper 71-54 to the Queensland Firebirds.
But although they managed to generate turnover ball early on last night, basic ball-handling errors let them down when it came to converting the possession into goals.
