Conference
Love it or hate it, the conference system has provided the Steel with a wonderful opportunity to sneak into the playoffs.
So, despite a disappointing beginning to the season - just two wins from seven games - the Steel is still on track.
A win over the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Dunedin on Monday will help keep the Steel in the top three of the New Zealand conference.
But it plays New Zealand teams in four of its last five games and those fixtures are absolutely crucial to its prospects.
Those points are doubly important.
Not only do you register points yourself, but you deny your opponents.
Must-wins
No-one quite knows what the points threshold will be because the conference system is new this season.
But teams need to finish in the top three of their conference, and for the Steel that means it cannot stumble against the Pulse in Dunedin on Saturday or in the return match in Palmerston North on May 17.
The bad news is the Pulse has dominated the fixture since former Steel coach Robyn Broughton took over the reins in 2012.
Wins over the Magic (May 10) and the Mystics (May 23) will help but it appears the Pulse and the Steel will battle to be the third New Zealand qualifier.
Who beats whom will probably determine the order they finish in the conference.
Mental toughness
The Steel has certainly been competitive but the wins have been slipping away in the last five or so minutes of games.
Part of that can be put down to the relative inexperience in the squad.
Veteran midcourter Wendy Frew aside, everyone else is still learning their craft at the top level.
That has been apparent in some of the patchy individual performances and the team's struggles to cope with the pressure in the final moments of matches.
Hot and cold
No-one can score as quickly as the Steel. From centre pass to goal can take a couple of snappy passes.
But some of the feeding into towering shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Reid has not been as clean as the side would like.
Perhaps that has had an impact on Fowler-Reid, whose accuracy has fallen from close to 94% to a more human 86.9%.
The Jamaican international needs to rediscover her range and the team can help out with better service. When Frew shifts to centre, the team appears to improve its accuracy on attack.
Defence
It has been the Steel's Achilles heel in the past few years.
A lot of faith has been placed in Storm Purvis and Phoenix Karaka and the pair are developing a very useful combination.
They have been able to have an impact periodically but not consistently.
Jane Watson could be used more.
She made some telling touches in the losses to the Magic and Vixens in the past few weeks and is the only other specialist defender.
Southern Steel
Remaining games
April 27: v Thunderbirds, Dunedin
May 2: v Pulse, Dunedin
May 10: v Magic, Hamilton
May 17: v Pulse, Palmerston North
May 23: v Mystics, Invercargill
May 31: v Firebirds, Brisbane
