The wing defence is still among the country’s most promising youngsters at 21.
But she also enters her fourth season with the Steel as one of its most established players.
Only Shannon Saunders and Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit have been there longer.
It has been a major shift for the franchise, which began to integrate its five new players in Invercargill as it met as a full team for the first time yesterday.
Despite being young, Heffernan brings an evergrowing amount of experience to the team.
She was there as an injury replacement player when the team won in 2018.
Over the past two seasons, she has cemented her spot in the starting line-up.
Her long arms and ability to anticipate passes has been instrumental in disrupting opposing attacks.
Last week she attended the Silver Ferns camp as part of the New Zealand side’s development squad.
It was plenty to draw from and she said while the focus was still on herself, she was looking to take a step up in leadership every year.
"I’m still learning so much, but obviously there’s now a chance for me to really be able to step up, I guess," she said.
"Because I’ve had a couple of seasons at the Steel, it’s probably me taking that experience to become more of a leader as well in that environment.
"Which is really exciting and good for me, but there’s still plenty of learning to come for me as well."
Heffernan said it had been good to have a break over summer after last year’s tough season.
That had included travelling to Auckland nearly every weekend, while injuries swept through the team.
One of those injuries had been Heffernan’s twin sister, Georgia, who she said was recovering well from her ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
The team had struggled on court as a result and Heffernan said the break had been a good refresher.
There was plenty of excitement in the new group too and Heffernan said the youth created a bit of a different dynamic.
That did not mean the goal was changing at all though.
"I guess we’re so new but the thing that’s great is a lot of teams don’t really know what they’re going to get," Heffernan said.
"We’ve got a lot of new combinations.
"We want to win the ANZ [Premiership]. That’s our ultimate goal and we’ve got a team we think can do it."
The season begins on April 18 against the Mainland Tactix in Invercargill.
The two sides will also meet in pre-season matches on March 12-13 in Timaru.
