The 22-year-old shooter was sidelined for the majority of the pre-season and the first month of the season with a stress fracture in her back.
Leaver, who moved south after spending last season with the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, said the injury was similar to the one which sidelined her a couple of years ago.
However, the 1.83m shooter has fully recovered and has been back training the past few weeks.
Leaver is one of four shooters - along with Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, Te Paea Selby-Rickit and Sophia Fenwick - on the Steel's youthful roster.
She hopes to make her Steel debut against the Mystics tomorrow night, and to add to her lone ANZ Championship cap, which she earned for the Central Pulse in 2011, her final year at secondary school.
It will be a homecoming for Leaver, who was born in Auckland.
''I've got quite a few [family members] coming to the game,'' she said.
''It was hard trying to figure out ticket numbers and everything.''
Leaver played representative netball with team-mates Storm Purvis and Phoenix Karaka in Auckland at under-15 level more than seven years ago.
She moved to Palmerston North to finish secondary school, before shifting to Hamilton for university.
Leaver clearly remembers making her debut for the Pulse as a replacement player, a match where she was marked by Silver Ferns captain and future Magic team-mate Casey Kopua.
''My first shot, I didn't want to take it because it was too far out,'' she said.
''She [Kopua] blocked me straight away. Even last year, when we became quite close, she was like, 'Do you remember your first shot you had? I blocked you.'''I said, 'I don't think I will ever forget that'.''
Leaver, who has represented the New Zealand under-21 and under-23 sides in the past, played the majority of her early netball at goal shoot.
Barring injury, Jhaniele Fowler-Reid has goal shoot locked down at the Steel, meaning Leaver's best opportunity for court time is in the goal attack bib.
She has played goal attack more the past few seasons and will ''definitely try and push for some court time'' now she is healthy.
''I hate sitting on the sideline,'' she said.
''But you just have to get along with it. It's happened, I just have to keep moving forward, I guess.''
Leaver, who played under coach Janine Southby with the national under-21 team, ''loves'' the Steel environment and thinks it is only a matter of time before the team improves on its 1-2 record.
''We've been looking really good,'' she said.
''We just need to work on that full 60 minutes of consistent netball, which has been a key thing we have worked on the past couple of weeks. As soon as we hit that, I think we will be unstoppable.''
Whether Leaver is a part of tomorrow's game against the Mystics, who top the New Zealand conference on five points, remains to be seen.
Selby-Rickit started alongside Fowler-Reid the first three games, but Fenwick got court time in a win and loss against the Mainland Tactix and West Coast Fever respectively.
Leaver, one of six Steel players based in Dunedin, is studying a nutrition paper at Otago Polytechnic.
Coming off its bye week, the Steel is third in the New Zealand conference with two points.
Steel v Mystics
Auckland, tomorrow, 7.10pm
Head to head: Played 14, Steel 6, Mystics 8.
Greatest winning margins: Steel 15 goals, Mystics 17 goals.
