On April 15 last year, Silver Ferns shooter Bailey Mes walked through the doors of the Gold Coast's Coomera Sports Centre desperate for a victory.
The Silver Ferns had already lost to Malawi, England and Australia and needed a win to avoid their worst Commonwealth Games finish. It wasn't tobe, as the Ferns lost the bronze medal playoff to Jamaica by five goals.
Mes was devastated. It was one of her netball career's darkest days and the start of an uphill battle mentally and physically for the 63-test shooter.
She was dropped from the Silver Ferns in August when Noeline Taurua took over the ailing side but was determined that the Commonwealth Games wouldn't be the last time she pulled on the black dress. She worked hard on her performance and earned a World Cup recall last week.
"It was a bit overwhelming, given everything that's happened over the last couple of years," Mes told the Herald on Sunday. "I definitely didn't want to get my hopes up but obviously that's what I was working towards, so I'm just stoked with the result."
Unwilling to let the result of the Commonwealth Games haunt her, Mes used the extra time she had being out of the international programme to focus on something other than netball. Finishing the photography diploma she'd been working towards for four years, she realised the importance of life away from netball.
Mes says the most important thing she did was work on herself as she turned her disappointment into an opportunity.
Bailey Mes dejected after losing the Bronze medal match. Photo / Photosport
"Commonwealth Games was a high and low at the same time. It was an incredible opportunity but we didn't get the results we wanted. It's always a learning curve, though, those hard times, and I think everyone learnt a lot about themselves and what it's like being in the team when times are a bit tougher. I know I definitely learned a lot.
"It was about working on myself and putting that outcome out of my mind for a while ... and having played at the last World Cup, I knew it was something I wanted to do again."
Playing an influential part in the 30-year-old's return, Mystics coach Helene Wilson pushed Mes outside the comfort zone of her usual goal shoot position. Spending time at wing attack and more recently goal attack, Mes was forced to work on playing in other areas of the court.
"I know my strengths on court and really wanted to get those back because I felt like I wasn't hitting my strengths as much," Mes said of her performance in this ANZ Premiership season.
"I had a real focus on doing a lot of work up court and getting the ball down and sharp movements and keeping the intensity the whole time. Turning and shooting from wherever I am was also a big one."
Bailey Mes reacts after the defeat to Jamaica. Photo / Photosport
She knew the hard work was worth it when she received a call from Taurua the morning of the World Cup team announcement. It capped a week of celebration for Mes. The Mystics had just finished a rough season with a shock win over the top-of-the-table Central Pulse in front of a home crowd at Auckland's Trusts Arena.
But Mes couldn't escape the critics, with her selection not well received by some fans.
With just a 73 per cent accuracy rate to rank 10th in the ANZ Premiership shooting statistics, some fans questioned Mes' selection ahead of rising stars Aliyah Dunn and Maia Wilson, who both showed promise during New Zealand's recent Quad Series campaigns.
Te Paea Selby-Rickit, Maria Folau and Ameliaranne Ekenasio also made the cut — completing the same shooting quartet used at the Commonwealth Games.
But when questioned about her selections, Taurua backed the group and Mes specifically, saying her experience would count for a lot against the world's best defenders.
"I'm backing her and I'm backing myself in what I can do. I'm going to give it a crack basically with her," Taurua said after the team was announced last week.
"Bailey is really strong underneath the post, so she can play a rotating circle, but she can also be strong and she's strong enough to hold as well."
Although Taurua's justification didn't silence all the critics, Mes isn't worried and is backing her skills on court.
"Criticism is something that's affected me my whole career but it's always been about me just putting as much as I can out on court," Mes says.
Bailey Mes has become a more familiar face to the goal attack bib. Photo / Photosport
"The shooters are easy to target because we have the last attempt to get the goal and we are the ones that have to score for the team, and so in that respect, there's a little bit of extra pressure in that position.
"But it's something I don't think about at all. At the end of the day, it doesn't even matter because it's about what I can do on court."
Mes will have the chance to prove her critics wrong when she takes to the court during the Silver Ferns' June Series.
They will take on the Fiji Pearls, a New Zealand All-Stars team and a New Zealand invitational men's side.
This will be the only chance for Mes and the Ferns to carry some momentum into the World Cup next month.
But despite the pressure of returning to the black dress, Mes says she prefers having something to prove.
"There's always nerves around a pinnacle event but it's more excitement than anything else. In terms of proving ourselves, it makes it more exciting because it's all new and we are still building from the last few months. It's a chance to get out and show what we know we can do."
