If the Steel hopes to emulate what its predecessor the Sting was able to achieve on court, then the franchise needs to be innovative off the court.
The Sting dominated the New Zealand franchise-based tournament, making all 10 finals and winning seven of them.
There were a host of factors which contributed to the success.
The board was well organised and did an excellent job promoting and building the Sting brand.
It enjoyed fantastic financial support from the Invercargill Licensing Trust and the Sting had a large and loyal fan base.
The team was well coached with Robyn Broughton at the helm, and she recruited some of the best players available.
With most of the foundations still in place, hopes were high the Steel would pick up where the Sting left off.
But the ANZ Championship presents a new set of challenges, and the other franchises appeared to have caught up.
The introduction of a salary cap has partly eroded the advantage of having the ILT on board.
It is meant to put the 10 franchises on an equal footing, but the bigger centres like Auckland and Sydney not only have a larger base of local players to choose from, they have more to offer in terms of job opportunities.
Given the competition is semi-professional, many of the players will need extra incentives to shift.
The University of Otago will continue to play an important role in attracting young netballers to the region, as will Broughton's coaching expertise, but, as the competition becomes more professional, the Steel will need to find ways to overcome that hurdle.
Recruiting players from outside the area creates some problems in itself.
The Steel had four players - Jenny-May Coffin, Daneka Wipiiti (Auckland), Megan Dehn (Sydney) and Megan Hutton (Christchurch) - commuting to practice.
With a quarter of the squad based outside the region, practice sessions had to be carefully planned.
The Steel would typically assemble two or three days before the week's match for intensive training sessions.
Whether that was enough to be competitive is debatable.
Broughton maintains it was ample and, as the season went on, the Steel congealed into a side capable of beating the best sides in the competition.
Delays in finalising the players' contracts prevented the five New Zealand franchises from assembling as early as they would have liked - that undoubtedly damaged the Steel's semifinal prospects.
Recruiting the best players has been a trademark of Broughton's coaching.
Her Sting sides were a who's who of New Zealand netball, with players such as Donna Wilkins, Lesley Rumball, Belinda Colling and Adine Wilson.
The Steel signed former Australian shooter Dehn, veteran midcourter Coffin and 18-year-old shooter Julianna Naoupu, along with six of the 2007 championship Sting team and Otago players Katrina Grant, Debbie White and Jessica Tuki.
But the big names signed elsewhere.
Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken and England international Tamsin Greenway joined the Queensland Firebirds.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds shored up their defence with experienced England international Geve Mentor, and the Magic, already groaning with Silver Ferns, signed shooter Maria Tutaia.
Even the struggling Central Pulse signed England defender Sonia Mkoloma.
With Coffin and Hutton both making noises about retirement, the Steel will be in the market for a couple of replacements.
The franchise might want to shop around for a more accurate shooter as well.
Both Wipiiti and Dehn are capable, but Wipiiti, in particular, was hot and cold.
She is the sort of player who can win a match every other night rather than most nights.
The Steel's 2008 record
Played 13, won seven, lost six.
Swifts L42-53, Pulse W52-50, Tactix W51-42, Thunderbirds L41-54, Mystics L48-50, Tactix L48-51, Magic L47-56, Pulse W41-29, Vixens W47-46, Fever W58-43, Mystics L41-47, Magic W47-41, Firebirds W54-52.;
Shooting statistics
Steel 617 from 816 attempts (75.6%)Daneka Wipiiti 391/519 (75.3%)Megan Dehn 147/190 (77.3%)Julianna Naoupu 75/102 (73.5%)Jess Tuki 4/6 (66.7%)
Appearances
Wipiiti 13, Megan Hutton 13, Liana Barrett-Chase 13, Katrina Grant 12, Jenny-May Coffin 12, Erika Burgess 11, Dehn 10, Wendy Telfer 10, Naoupu 8, Debbie White 6, Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit 4, Tuki 2.
Player of the season
Defender Katrina Grant recovered from a nightmare start against the Swifts, where she was penalised out of the game, to form a reliable combination with Megan Hutton at the back.
Best performance
While the comprehensive 47-41 win against the Magic ranks highly, the Steel's 47-46 win against the Vixens was simply outstanding netball and the highlight of the season.
Worst performance
Take your pick from the two losses to the Mystics.
The first was perhaps more disappointing given the Steel led by as many as eight goals during the final quarter.
