When the campaign got under way in late March, the Steel was targeting a spot in the top half of the standings.
No-one was talking about the Steel and the playoffs in the same sentence. But the combined Otago-Southland side has been good enough to put itself in a position where it can make the semifinals.
There is a logjam in the middle of the competition table, with the Magic, the Pulse and the Steel all on 10 points and jostling for fourth spot.
The competition is about to get a lot more serious and for the Steel, tomorrow's game against the Magic in Rotorua has the feel of an elimination match. The team is certainly approaching the game as if it is a sudden-death fixture.
''It is a really important match for us if we want to progress through the competition,'' coach Janine Southby said.
''The biggest thing we need to keep focusing on is nailing our plans on court.''
The Steel has certainly shown it can score quickly, perhaps more quickly than any other team in the championship. That means it can turn around medium-sized deficits lickity-split.
But the Steel has also been guilty of taking the odd nap. Its 58-52 loss to the Vixens in Melbourne on Monday was a case in point. The Steel won the last quarter and shared the honours in the first two. But a poor 5min stretch during the third period saw potential victory slip away.
Some suffocating defence from Geva Mentor and Bianca Chatfield did not help, either.
''I don't think we matched their physicality as well as we could have,'' Southby said.
''The feedback from the girls is it wore them down. And they did their homework and targeted Jodi [Brown]. The pressure she was under was huge.
''They are the strongest defensive team in the competition, so we knew it was going to be a real challenge for us. We went well together at times, but at other times we got isolated and that was the key to us not coming out on top.''
In many ways, the Vixens' win was a blueprint for how the Magic might approach tomorrow's game.
The Magic has the third-best defensive record in the competition, conceding 50.7 goals a game. Defenders Casey Kopua and Leana de Bruin will be keen to make amends after the Steel's attacking combination of Jhaniele Fowler and Brown helped the Steel beat the Magic 65-58 two weeks ago.
Fowler, in particular, has proved difficult to stop. The towering Jamaican international has scored 457 goals, two more than Magic pair Irene van Dyk (253) and Ellen Halpenny (202) combined.
The Steel is the second-highest scoring team in the competition, averaging 62.3 goals a game. When the Steel gets it right, as it did against the Magic, it looks every bit the top-four side.
History is on the Magic's side, though. The Hamilton-based franchise has won eight of the 12 encounters between the teams.
And the Magic know how to win the big games. Last year the team lost its first four games then went unbeaten for the rest of the season to win the title.
The Magic's 65-62 win against the Firebirds on the Gold Coast last week suggests Noeline Taurua's side has turned the corner.
''I expect they will come a lot harder at us and they would have worked on a few strategies to combat Jhaniele. So that's where we will have to be a lot smarter in what we are doing and the ball we are passing in to her,'' Southby said.
ANZ Championship
Steel v Magic
Where: Energy Events Centre, Rotorua
When: Tomorrow, 7.40pm
Record: Played 12, Steel 4, Magic 8
