Bailey Mes Announces Retirement From All Netball

Former Silver Ferns shooter Bailey Mes has called time on her netball career, making the difficult decision to step away from the game at all levels.

The 2019 world champion has announced her retirement from all netball and will play her final game when her Avis Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic team meet the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel in Invercargill on Sunday in Round 12 of the ANZ Premiership.

Mes said she believed she had achieved all she wanted on the netball court and was “at peace” with making her decision to retire.

“I know that now is the right time for me,” she said.

“I’m happy with how I’m playing and have been enjoying my netball this year immensely. But it has been hard over the past few seasons with injuries, and I know my body has reached its limits.

“It is going to be hard to walk away from the High Performance environment because I truly love the game, but I’m also ready for the next chapter and I’m excited about what the future holds away from the netball court.

“I would also like to thank all of those people who have supported me during my time with the Silver Ferns and I wish them all the best for their Netball World Cup campaign in South Africa.”

Mes said she would resume her role with Sky TV as a Sport imagery editor and resume to work full-time with a shift back to Auckland later this year.

The athletic attacker, who played goal attack, goal shooter and wing attack at an international level, was a Silver Ferns bolter in 2012 where she made her debut against South Africa before a serious knee injury stymied her progress a year later.

Mes returned to international play in 2014 where she was a key player in the FAST5 Ferns defence of their World Netball Series crown.

She was selected for the Silver Ferns’ Netball World Cup campaign in 2015 where she helped the side to a silver medal and following a resurgence in her game in 2019 was again named to compete for a world title.

Mes was a part of the Silver Ferns side which won gold at the Netball World Cup in Liverpool and also won bronze at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua said she was incredibly proud of Mes and what she had overcome to become a world champion and a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist.

“I don’t think anyone can underestimate the work that Bailey has put in behind the scenes to manage injuries in recent years and continue to play at the level she has,” she said.

“She is an incredibly hard-working athlete who has given her all for the black dress and I respect her decision to finish her career when the timing is right for her while she is also playing some of her best netball that she is well known and admired for.

“Bailey will be remembered as a shooter who had an incredible standing jump, was very aerial with her play and could pull off something special in the circle.”

Mes was Silver Fern number 150 and played 76 Tests in the black dress including two World Cups (2015 and 2019) and two Commonwealth Games campaigns (2018 and 2022).

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