Southern Steel assistant coach Donna Wilkins is finding life on the sidelines "a little frustrating", but has not been tempted to put the bib back on.
Last year, the dual netball and basketball international helped the Sting win the National Bank Cup with some superb shooting, landing 239 of her 265 attempts.
Her 90% success rate was second only to the incomparable Irene van Dyk.
But this season, Wilkins has decided to step out of the circle in favour of the sidelines.
Life on the bench calling the shots with coach Robyn Broughton is not all bad, but it has its challenges too.
"Everyone has been asking me that," Wilkins responded when asked if she was considering making a comeback.
"No.
I'm quite happy with my decision to be sitting on the bench alongside Robyn.
I'm learning a lot from her and if I can offer something to those girls, then I feel like I'm succeeding in my job.
"But it is more stressful.
When you're a player, you come off the court analysing your own game.
As a coach, you come off and analyse every one of your 12 players.
"I guess one of the reasons it is frustrating is because you see how well these girls perform at training and then have these little lapses in the game."
After spending the last four weeks of the ANZ championship on the road, the Steel will make its long awaited debut at home: a match-up against the talented but winless Northern Mystics at Stadium Southland in Invercargill tonight.
While the Yvonne Willering-led Mystics will be desperate to get on the board, the Steel will be just as eager to give its home fans something to cheer about.
The Otago-Southland combined side has been a mixed bag so far.
The southern side was at its best against the Canterbury Tactix in Christchurch and showed promise in its opening match against the NSW Swifts in Sydney.
But poor performances against the Central Pulse and competition heavyweights the Adelaide Thunderbirds have left some critics questioning whether the new franchise can replicate the Stings' marvellous record.
However, Wilkins believes the Steel are not too badly placed after four rounds but must win tonight's match to generate some momentum heading into the middle stages of the inaugural tournament.
"We've had four games on the road and two of those have been in Australia, so we're not in a bad place.
"No-one [no New Zealand team] has won in Australia yet, so it is critical that you win when you are home."
While the Mystics have not managed a win yet, the side looks more than capable of clawing its way back into the competition, Wilkins said.
"They've got a pretty well-oiled team.
They've got a lot of named players, probably more so that what we have, and the pressure is on them to win.
But we are putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to do the same."
"To have success [tonight], we have to limit our turnovers.
In the last few games, we've had far too many and, at this level of competition, you can't afford to have them."
In matches at the weekend, Jamaican international Romelda Aiken sank 48 goals to help the Queensland Firebirds demolish the West Cost Fever 65-46 in Brisbane on Saturday.
And the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic had an equally convincing win when it mauled the hapless Central Pulse 54-37 in Hamilton.
