The athletic defender had to cool her heels on the bench for the first quarter but once on court she made an immediate impact.
She was majestic in dominating the aerial exchanges during Otago's 51-46 win against Western at the Lion Foundation Arena on Saturday night.
Barely a high ball came into the circle that Thayer did not contest or disrupt in some way.
And when she could not get to the ball in the air, Thayer used her pace and agility to get around her opponents.
During an injury break midway through the second quarter, Western coach Annette Pearce was forced to shuffle her line-up to counter Thayer's athleticism.
She replaced Amber Bellringer for Te Paea Selby-Rickit. Selby-Rickit towered over her opponent but somehow Thayer found a way to compete.
Her impressive vertical leap helped mitigate any height disadvantage.
Thayer's efforts did not go unrewarded, with New Zealand netball great Lois Muir judging her the player of the match.
There was little argument from Otago coach Georgie Salter who said Thayer had played superbly in what was a must-win match for the province.
"She played well last week, too . . . so I'm pleased with her. She is coming along quite nicely," Salter said.
The win means Otago has nine points from four round-robin matches and is well-placed to make the semifinals.
Auckland Waitakere beat North 46-44 on Saturday and leads division one with 13 points. North is second with 10 points. With Waikato beating Southland 43-39 yesterday, there is a three-way tie (Waikato, Southland, Otago) for third.
Salter has made a habit out of springing surprises this season and could not help herself from making a couple of tweaks to the expected line-up.
Former Silver Ferns shooter Jessica Tuki started at centre for the second time in the campaign and Debbie White shifted to goal defence, squeezing out an unlucky Thayer.
That allowed goal attack Rihi Salter to make a rare start.
Otago forced plenty of turnovers in the midcourt but could not convert with the play breaking down at the business end.
Campbell was wayward with her first attempt and off target with several other efforts, and her combination with Salter was not working.
The pair were not on the same page, with passes going to space rather than to hand. Western defensive duo Kahurangi Waititi and Erika Burgess snaffled up the loose ball.
Otago trailed 14-8 after a rather inept quarter and Georgie Salter quickly went back to her No 1 line-up.
White went to centre, Tuki to goal attack and Thayer came on at goal keep. The turnaround was quite remarkable.
Following what the coach described as a dreadful quarter, Otago produced perhaps its best quarter of netball this season.
Suddenly the passes were going to hand, the shots dropping and the six-goal deficit eroded before a small crowd of about 500 could say "That's more like it".
Otago won the quarter 15-6 and followed up winning the third period 17-13 to build a seven-goal lead with 15min remaining.
There were some anxious moments in the final period when Otago allowed a 10-goal advantage to slip away. With 3min left Western had fought back to within three points.
The confident Otago side had been replaced by a hesitant and nervy one.
"What you saw in that last quarter is why we're losing games. It is like we left our brains behind. We are not tough enough, mentally. They can do much better than they are doing. We just can't afford these lapses."
Otago will play North in its final round-robin match in Rotorua on Thursday.
A win will secure a semifinal spot but, depending on other results, Otago could still get through with a loss.
