After four seasons as the dominant team in New Zealand netball — alongside the Central Pulse — 2020 was certainly a tough one for the Southern Steel.
A fifth-placed finish and just four wins from 14 games was a stark contrast for a team that won back-to-back titles and was upset in last year’s playoffs.
This was a much younger team than those ones, though — a lot of its experience has left in recent years.
And injuries hampered that further. Georgia Heffernan’s knee injury was a setback, but when Jennifer O’Connell went down two weeks later the side was left scrambling for shooters.
When Kalifa McCollin left a game later in the season it almost felt like a cruel joke.
Of course she ended up being all right, but the injuries were a big blow.
The shooting circle was an area the team was already looking weaker in, having lost long-time goal attack Te Paea Selby-Rickit and star goal shooter Lenize Potgieter from last year.
Development was going to be important, as was forming new connections. When the injuries happened, more new connections needed to be formed.
Rookies Kiana Pelasio and Grace Namana got their chances, while veteran Ellen Halpenny joined the team.
Halpenny proved valuable, her experience and ability to slot in helped the team out of several situations.
As a collective, they did not shoot at a high enough accuracy.
But that was not helped by the constant forced chopping and changing.
The midcourt was the team’s biggest strength.
Gina Crampton and Shannon Saunders both showed their experience and at times took control of tight games. They were hugely influential in the side’s four wins.
Meanwhile, at wing defence Kate Heffernan took another big step, her length and anticipation making her a genuine star.
It was a very different season as well.
The team avoided using the extra travel as an excuse, but it undoubtedly had an impact.
Not only was the Steel flying to Auckland and back every week, half its team was also adding van rides from Invercargill to Dunedin on to that.
That would have been gruelling and the fatigue was starting to show towards the end.
But it also took away the team’s significant home court advantage.
The Steel has lost just five times at home in the past four years.
Its record on the road has been good in that time too, but not as dominant as at home.
Taking that away had a significant impact.
You cannot pin everything on that, and the two finalists — the Pulse and Mainland Tactix — also had to cope with travel.
But for a team that was already dealing with player losses and injuries, it did not help.
On the whole it was not a good year.
The outlook for the future could go one of two ways.
An optimist would say there are plenty of talented young players in this team, while Crampton and Saunders remain very much on top of their game.
A pessimist would see it as the end of the golden era.
