The Steel must find the grit and tenacity it has shown in the past if it is going to recover from a poor start to the ANZ Championship.
Two heavy defeats have left the franchise towards the bottom of the competition table and co-captain Wendy Frew is filthy about it.
She is a fiercely competitive character and her hatred of losing runs very deep.
She has not taken the Steel's back-to-back losses to the Northern Mystics (51-34) and Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic (51-36) at all well.
''It is a real terrible and an ugly feeling,'' Frew said. ''It is not the situation you want to be in after two games.
"We're certainly kicking ourselves about it but, at the same time, we have to be positive and make sure we come out firing for the Pulse on Saturday.
''We are pretty hard on ourselves. We don't go out there to play poorly and make individual errors and lose games.
"But there are just a few things which have crept into our game that we need to stop.''
The attack end needs the most attention.
The new combination between experienced wing attack Liana Leota and goal attack Paula Griffin has looked clumsy and goal shoot Daneka Wipiiti has not found her best form.
The Silver Ferns back-up shooter injured her ankle during the pre-season tournament and missed the opening loss to the Mystics.
She returned for the match against the Magic but looked rusty and appeared to be nursing her ankle.
Defensively, the Steel has been strong, with goal keep Leana de Bruin making an impressive start to the campaign.
She has been creating plenty of turnover ball for the Steel but that extra possession has been squandered down the other end.
''Our turnover rate is still too high ... and it is going to be hard to win games with that many turnovers.
Each and every one of us on the court need to eliminate a few errors and that will make it much easier.
''We've been working really hard on our combinations ... it has just been little things which have not been working and we are well aware of it and certainly need to lift our attack end.
"We are losing too much possession down there and it is making it hard on our defence to try and get the ball back for us.''
Frew was reluctant to use the Steel's horror run of injuries as an excuse but it has been a factor in the team's disappointing start.
Four key players were sidelined for the pre-season tournament and marquee signing Natasha Chokljat is still struggling with a calf injury and missed the Steel's first two matches.
''It has been really challenging ... but we've been big on not using it as an excuse. We've got 12 players in the squad that can step up, so it is about taking your opportunities.''
It is still early days in the tournament but a loss to the Central Pulse in Porirua this weekend would be a dreadful result for the combined Otago-Southland side.
With much harder games still to come, the Steel can ill afford another setback.
''A lost to the Pulse would leave us distraught. They will come out confident.
They've had a good pre-season ... and they will be looking forward to the battle.
"We certainly will not be taking them lightly.''
