It is not the most inspiring way to sum up the Steel's ANZ Championship campaign but perhaps the most apt.
A good team wins the matches it is expected to win but a great side finds a way to win the tough encounters. The Steel fits in to the former category.
While the team had its moments - the 58-49 win against the Thunderbirds in Dunedin in round 13 was from the top drawer - it did little more than was expected for the bulk of the tournament.
The Steel fought hard and scraped its way into the play-offs after it looked like it might just miss out following losses to the West Coast Fever in Perth and the Queensland Firebirds in Brisbane.
The team also had to overcome injuries to Sheryl Scanlan, Adine Wilson and Megan Hutton, and the unavailability of Daneka Wipiiti when the pregnant shooter pulled out after round 11.
But the reality is the combined Otago-Southland side had targeted making the play-offs and, with its personnel and the competition structure, anything less would have been a major disappointment.
The tournament structure is manifestly unfair in that the New Zealand sides play each other twice and the Australian teams once during the round-robin phase. Likewise, the Australians play each other twice and the New Zealand franchises once.
The format leans towards two teams from each country making the play-offs. With the Australian sides generally stronger than the New Zealand teams, one can mount a convincing argument our transtasman rivals are at a serious disadvantage. In the interests of fairness, the competition needs to move towards a proper home-and-away double round.
The Steel finished the round-robin tied on 16 points with the Firebirds but advanced courtesy of a superior goal percentage.
If you were in the Firebirds' camp you could be forgiven for feeling a bit miffed. The Firebirds beat the Steel 52-50 in Brisbane, but while they were doing their best against the likes of the Thunderbirds, Fever and Swifts, the Steel was racking up wins against the Pulse, Tactix and Mystics. The Firebirds were arguably the fourth-best team in the competition and deserved a place in the play-offs.
That aside, Steel coach Robyn Broughton got the best out of her players, especially towards the end of the tournament when the likes Donna Wilkins, Liana Barrett-Chase and Wendy Telfer were performing superbly.
Broughton led the Sting to seven titles in 10 years and her credentials as one of the best coaches in the country are beyond question.
Champion coaches are always surrounded by champion players, though, and perhaps a better measure of performance is whether they are getting the best out of their charges. Broughton gets two thumbs up on that score.
It is a tight call between Barrett-Chase and Wilkins for the player of the season bouquet but Wilkins' tenacity and competitiveness gives her the edge.
Her final shooting statistics do not do proper justice to her season. She landed 321 of her 383 attempts (83.8%), which is a fine effort. But what those figures do not take into account is how she changed from a feeding role to the main shooter when Wipiiti pulled out.
She also combined beautifully with Dehn, who came into the championship cold in round 12 with just some games of tennis behind her. Not much of a build-up, but she filled in admirably.
Wipiiti improved her shooting statistics this season but in her absence the Steel switched to a more mobile style and was, arguably, a harder side to defend against.
Wilson returned after a year off to start a family and enhanced her reputation as an outstanding wing attack. But the big movers in the midcourt were Barrett-Chase and Telfer.
Telfer started the season as a bench player but earned her spot with some tidy performances, and Barrett-Chase was dynamic and made some touches of real class.
The much-vaunted defence end was a let-down. Hutton struggled with Achilles and knee injuries and was far from her best. She was penalised heavily and did not appear as fit as in previous seasons.
Katrina Grant performed well in patches but did not develop as much as the Steel would have hoped, and Scanlan's calf injury ruled her out of the final rounds.
Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit made a breakthrough in her progress from nervy shooter to defender. But she still has some work to do to match the top defenders. With Hutton retiring, the Steel will be on the lookout for a quality replacement.
Steel's 2009 record
• Played 14, won eight, lost six.
• Results
Pulse W55-46, Magic L54-47, Tactix W52-48, Vixens L48-31, Mystics W61-52, Tactix W48-47, Magic L48-39, Pulse W66-44, Fever L59-48, Mystics W52-50, Firebirds L52-50, Thunderbirds W58-49, Swifts W55-48, Thunderbirds L51-45.
• Shooting statistics
707 attempts from 854 (82.8%)
Donna Wilkins 321/383 (83.8%)
Daneka Wipiiti 295/358 (82.4%)
Megan Dehn 82/99 (82.8%)
Julianna Naoupu 9/13 (69.2)
Leah Shoard 0/1
• Appearances
Liana Barrett-Chase 14, Katrina Grant 14, Donna Wilkins 14, Wendy Telfer 13, Adine Wilson 12, Megan Hutton 11, Erika Burgess 11, Daneka Wipiiti 10, Sheryl Scanlan 9, Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit 8, Megan Dehn 4, Leah Shoard 2, Julianna Naoupu 2.
• Player of the season
Veteran shooter Donna Wilkins returned from a year off to start a family only to break her wrist in a pre-season game. But she bounced back from that setback and kept getting better with each game.
• Best performance
With the season teetering on the brink, the Steel produced a complete performance to dispatch the talented Thunderbirds 58-49 in Dunedin. The 48-47 win against the Tactix in Christchurch was a gutsy display and worthy of a mention.
• Worst performance
The long trip to Perth robbed the Steel of vitality, and a flat performance resulted in a comfortable 59-48 win to the relatively inexperienced Fever.
