The main thrust for Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic is to continue tracking upward and re-asserting their trans-Tasman netball competition credentials when they meet Southern Steel in Hamilton on Monday.
The teams have headed in different directions since their opening round clash when the new-look Steel started in sensational fashion, securing a two-goal win which heralded a four-game losing streak for the Magic in their worst-ever start to a season.
A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, with the Magic rebounding with four straight wins on the back of continued strong showings heading into a bye last weekend while the Steel have plunged to five consecutive defeats.
For Magic defender Leana de Bruin, there's no hangover from that first round upset, it's more a matter of business as usual.
"I don't live in the past and what's happened has happened ... hopefully I've learnt from that and I just move on. As a team we've grown heaps since we first played them but for me personally, it's another game and a game that we definitely have to win to reach our goals."
Coming into the round 10 clash, the Steel have not won since round three but have come desperately close on several occasions, four of their six losses being by five goals or less.
Strong at both ends of the court with experienced shooters Jodi Brown and Donna Wilkins in dynamic form under the hoop and the defensive combination of Storm Purvis and Demelza McCloud also an effective unit, the Steel have the personnel to disrupt.
With their season in the balance, the Magic have everything to play for in their chase for a play-off spot. While out of contention, the Steel, a bogey team for the Magic in the past, loom as competition spoilers.
"Defensively for us, it's a big game because you don't get much better than Jodi (Brown) and Donna (Wilkins) together. They've got an amazing understanding and present a tough combination," de Bruin said. "Once they get their tails up, they're hard to stop so we have to work on shutting them down early. They're the core of that team and when they're on then everybody else seems to lift as well."
After a slow start, De Bruin, the competition's joint most valuable player last year with the Queensland Firebirds' Natalie Medhurst, is happy with how the Magic are travelling and is feeling mentally refreshed after the bye.
The rangy defender feels the Magic have improved with each outing and the next step is consistency over 60 minutes.
In another positive sign for the Magic, de Bruin's partnership with Casey Williams has gone from strength to strength in recent games after the defensive divas recovered from a ragged start to the season.
"We're definitely happier than what we started off with," she said. "It took a while to get used to what other people were trying to do, we didn't have a starting wing defence at the beginning which really made it quite hard to stick to a certain routine as we had a few changes in that position and then it was just a matter of Casey and I getting an understanding again of what each other does.
"We've come a long way to sorting that out and are now working on trying to create a few more things for each other. It is getting better but I believe it can be even better than what it is now."