Steel season done: 'We were only just getting started'
The Southern Steel finished the season with a five-win-five-loss record, a significant improvement after two challenging seasons where they had won just one of 30 games.
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And just like that, the Southern Steel’s 2025 season is over.
The Southern Steel finished its 2025 ANZ Premiership season on a positive note with a 61-55 win over the Stars at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill on Monday night.
It meant they finished the season with a five-win-five-loss record, a significant improvement after two challenging seasons where the Steel had won just one of 30 games.
That improved showing, however, wasn’t enough to book a playoff berth with the Steel finishing two competition points behind third-placed the Pulse.
The truncated two-round format at the start of the season felt like it was going to be a sprint, and that is certainly how it now feels as the Steel reflects on the 2025 campaign.
“It is just gutting because we were only just getting started, it felt,” Steel goal attack Georgia Heffernan told Sky Sport after the win over the Stars.
With just a 10-game round robin format, there was no chance of building into the season.
Ultimately, the Steel’s first half of the campaign scuppered their playoff hopes with just one win from their first five games before then finding their winning ways.
The Steel went on to four of their remaining five games to hammer home that this is a much-improved team from previous years.
You have to go back to 2021 when the Steel last won five or more games in a season.
While disappointed not to be part of the playoffs, coach Wendy Frew can quite rightly be encouraged by what she saw in 2025.
“I’m proud of a lot of things. I think for me coming in as a rookie coach, it is a really tough gig, but I’ve really enjoyed it. There is a lot of stress, but I’m really proud of the girls,” Frew told Sky Sport.
“A lot of them have come down here for the first time, and they have really embraced Invercargill and the Dunedin people, and it has been really cool to see.
“And I’m just proud of our culture, we’ve created a really good culture down here, and we’ve brought into our values, and I think that is reflective in our performances.
“In saying that, I’m just gutted we didn’t get [wins] on the board earlier. We knew at the time we needed to, and we just let a couple slip.
“It hurts with this bunch of girls, I feel like we could have been competitive in the top three, but that is how sport goes.”
On top of the improved showing on court, encouragingly, the Steel fans also came out in big numbers in 2025 with yet another sell-out for its final outing against the Stars in Invercargill on Monday night.
While there is plenty of speculation around the long-term future of the competition, particularly in line with broadcast deals, Netball New Zealand has confirmed there will be a six-team New Zealand competition in 2026.
Well coached Wendy the players looked like they were having fun and you spoke to them as mates in the breaks.not screaming as some do.onwards and upwards 2026.