OPINION: Whether or not the Silver Ferns claim the ultimate prize at the Netball World Cup, you have to admire the enterprise of their coach.
Silver Ferns coach Wai Taumaunu Photo: Photosport
This afternoon they meet England in the semi-final in Sydney, and all going well, will most likely meet the Australian Diamonds in the final tomorrow.
It's understandable that not many people saw their shock win over Australia in pool play last Sunday coming.
After finishing 2014 with one of their worst records, including an 18-goal loss to Australia in the Commonwealth Games final, before a 4-0 series loss to the Diamonds, and a defeat by England, things weren't looking good.
Coach Waimarama Taumaunu knew it - she didn't need the media or the public to tell her that - and she did something about it.
When she put Bailey Mes in at goal shoot during the later stages of the Constellation Cup in October last year, her mind was already working in overdrive.
Cathrine Latu's shooting accuracy was impressive but we just weren't able to get the ball to her enough and what good is a high shooting percentage if the ball doesn't get to the hands in the first place?
With Mes in the back it allowed the Ferns to play an expansive, free-flowing game, something the Ferns were better known for in the past.
The Silver Ferns Bailey Mes takes the ball from Laura Geitz 2015. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
A by-product of that style is that the shooters cop less contact from the defenders and that's important when you come up against Australia.
They are relentless, on the body all the time, and the short game allowed them to do just that, they had time to mark up on New Zealand's goal shoot and goal attack, and it wore them down.
The fact that Mes barely played goal shoot this year in the trans-Tasman league makes her performances so far in the black dress even more impressive.
She was forced to play goal attack for the Canterbury Tactix, with Malawi import Mwai Kumwenda the incumbent goal shoot.
The 26-year-old has had a stop-start introduction to the Silver Ferns.
Mes didn't set the world on fire when first picked as a bolter for the national side in 2012 as cover at wing attack, a position that didn't come naturally to her.
She caught Taumaunu's notice after excelling in many of the fitness testing categories at trials.
Then in 2013 she had an ACL injury right near the end of the ANZ Championships, just when she was getting some court time at goal shoot for the Northern Mystics, and looking good.
The Tactix Bailey Mes looks to shoot with the Pulse captain Katrina Grant in defence. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Last year at the Mystics she rarely had opportunities under the post (the incumbent being Cathrine Latu) and spent a bit of time at wing attack as a stop-gap measure.
Hands down her best position is goal shoot and we're finally getting to see her there.
Taumaunu didn't have a whole lot of playing evidence to go on when it came to Mes, but the snippets she saw, the trials, and the training camps obviously swayed her.
Silver Ferns shooter Bailey Mes catches the ball as Barbados goalkeeper Shonette Bruce tries for the intercept Photo: Photosport
So Taumaunu had to drop Latu and two other veterans - Liana Leota and Joline Henry.
In Henry's place is Kayla Cullen, a player with plenty of x-factor, and for Leota - Grace Rasmussen, New Zealand's form wing attack.
The Maria Tutaia, Mes, and Rasmussen combo have only really played a few internationals together, so the connections they've found already on attack are impressive.
It's not like the Ferns have completely re-invented themselves, we've still got plenty of familiarity in the likes of Laura Langman, Casey Kopua, Maria Tutaia, and Leana de Bruin.
But Taumaunu was determined to pick the best 12 players in the country to give the Ferns the best chance at the World Cup - and she did just that.
* The Silver Ferns play England at 2:10pm
