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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Female Athlete Project. My name is Chloe Dalton.

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Speaker 1: I'm an Olympic gold medalist in rugby sevens and because

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Speaker 1: I have commitment issues, have also played two other sports

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Speaker 1: at professional level. The last two seasons, I've played for

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Speaker 1: Carlton in the AIRFLW and prior to that played for

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Speaker 1: the Sydney Uni Flames and the Women's National Basketball League.

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Speaker 1: I'm currently training full time with the Australian rugby sevens

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Speaker 1: for the now Tokyo twenty twenty one Olympics. One of

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Speaker 1: my favorite things to do is to head down to

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Speaker 1: the beach, grab a coffee and the paper, click to

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Speaker 1: the back page and read about sport. I've had enough

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Speaker 1: of only reading stories about men's sport, so I decided

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Speaker 1: to do something about it. One day, female athletes will

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Speaker 1: be recognized by their achievements and not by their gender.

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Speaker 1: Until then, I'm going to chat to and share the

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Speaker 1: stories of epic ossie female athletes. This episode is brought

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Speaker 1: to you by Workplace Law and Athletes Authority, who are

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Speaker 1: both incredible supporters of the Female Athlete Project. Steph Catley

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Speaker 1: is one of the best footballers that this country has produced.

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Speaker 1: She made her debut for Melbourne Victory in the w

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Speaker 1: League at fifteen years of age and has since gone

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Speaker 1: on to win five W League championships between Melbourne Victory

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Speaker 1: and Melbourne City. Steph has been named in the W

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Speaker 1: League's Team of the Season for the last four years

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Speaker 1: in a row, and in twenty twenty was named the

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Speaker 1: PFA Women's Player of the Year. She's also been an

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Speaker 1: integral part of the Matilda's team since her debut in

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Speaker 1: twenty twelve, has played alongside some of the world's best

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Speaker 1: in the NWSL in America, and is currently playing with

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Speaker 1: Arsenal in the Women's Super League in England while preparing

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Speaker 1: for the Tokyo Olympics and the twenty twenty three World Cup.

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Speaker 1: Steph has overcome some huge things during her extensive football career,

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Speaker 1: and one of my favorite parts was chatting to her

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Speaker 1: about dealing with the emotions, grief, and announcement processes that

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Speaker 1: come with recurrent and long term injuries. This is the

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Speaker 1: final episode in season one of the Female Athlete Project,

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Speaker 1: so he made it a real good one. I hope

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Speaker 1: you enjoy it. Also, just to heads up on the audio,

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Speaker 1: we did this one over Zoom with Steph being over

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Speaker 1: in London and there was a bit of drilling going

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Speaker 1: on in the apartment next door to her, so if

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Speaker 1: you hear that during the podcast, apologies and advance. Steph Katley.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Female Athlete Project.

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Speaker 2: Thank you thanks for having me.

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Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about where you're based at

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Speaker 1: the moment and what you've been up to over the

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Speaker 1: past few months.

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Speaker 3: Okay, so I am based in London, England at the moment,

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Speaker 3: playing for Arsenal.

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Speaker 2: Been here for the last year. I think it's a

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Speaker 2: year now. It's gone really really quickly.

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Speaker 3: But been here for about a year, being very injured,

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Speaker 3: but still having a good time and enjoying life here

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Speaker 3: in London.

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Speaker 2: London lockdown, but yeah, still pretty cool.

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Speaker 1: Is What are the lockdown restrictions for you at the moment?

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Speaker 3: Pretty much full on lockdown. Being an athlete, We're pretty lucky.

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Speaker 3: We can still go in and do our normal thing

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Speaker 3: and socialize with our teammates and work. But for lots

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Speaker 3: of people it's still work from home and none of

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Speaker 3: the shops are open obviously, no restaurants, cafes and basically

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Speaker 3: just stay home where possible. So still full on lockdown,

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Speaker 3: but things are starting to slowly open up in around

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Speaker 3: a week or so. I think we're allowed in like

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Speaker 3: courtyards of cafes and restaurants and whatnot, So that'll be

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Speaker 3: a bit of a test run and I think as

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Speaker 3: long as that goes well, then we might.

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Speaker 2: Be on the up and on the out.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I hope. So fingers crossed for you. What was

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Speaker 1: part of that decision for you to head over and

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Speaker 1: play with Arsenal. I saw a very cute video of

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Speaker 1: your grandparents I think it was it was your grandpa

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Speaker 1: with an Arsenal jersey on.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, he's been a lifelong Arsenal support at my that

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Speaker 3: side of my family, my mom's side or from England

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Speaker 3: and Scotland. My grandpa grew up right next to Arsenal stadium,

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Speaker 3: so I was a big fan. So, I mean, I've

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Speaker 3: always for the last few years of my career, I

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Speaker 3: really wanted to get to Europe at some stage and

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Speaker 3: just challenge myself and get myself into a new environment

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Speaker 3: and really get on a more professional.

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Speaker 2: Season.

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Speaker 3: So when I was playing in America, I was obviously

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Speaker 3: playing there and then I was coming back to playing

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Speaker 3: the w League and I was doing national team and

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Speaker 3: all of that combinement that I never had an off

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Speaker 3: season or a preseason, so I was doing that for

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Speaker 3: years and I think it just started catching up with

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Speaker 3: my body, which I really started to feel when everything

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Speaker 3: happened with COVID.

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Speaker 2: I stopped for the first.

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Speaker 3: Time in my senior life, in my senior career life,

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Speaker 3: and just noticed.

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Speaker 2: That my body was really it was in bits.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, coming to England was more a professional longevity

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Speaker 3: thing for my body, but also a new challenge. And

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Speaker 3: I think, you know, so many amazing players have come

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Speaker 3: over to the league this year and it's just going

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Speaker 3: to get better and better.

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Speaker 2: So I felt like it was the right place to

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Speaker 2: be for my career.

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Speaker 1: Going back to when you're a little kid, where did

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Speaker 1: it all start for you? Did you know from when

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Speaker 1: you're a youngster that you wanted to always play soccer?

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I was always very sporty kid. I had a

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Speaker 3: big brother, so he was my idol, and I literally

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Speaker 3: just followed him around and did whatever he did and

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Speaker 3: tried to be one of the boys. So I'd always

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Speaker 3: play all sorts of sports, just out in the front

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Speaker 3: yard and out in the streets with some boys in

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Speaker 3: the neighborhood and him, so I think I played growing

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Speaker 3: up in Melbourne. I played a lot of AFL. I

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Speaker 3: was in OZ kick and that was really my first

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Speaker 3: sporting passion. I would say it would be AFL, played

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Speaker 3: a lot of cricket, athletics, all sorts.

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Speaker 2: Of things, and then eventually.

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Speaker 3: My brother signed up for the local soccer team football team,

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Speaker 3: and me, being the little follower that I was, obviously

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Speaker 3: went to training with him every night and just was

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Speaker 3: on the sidelines with the parents watching, but I'd have

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Speaker 3: a ball at my feet, be dribbling and trying to

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Speaker 3: do all the drills that they were doing on the

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Speaker 3: field and just basically show off and be that guy

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Speaker 3: I can do it too. And then yeah, eventually they

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Speaker 3: got sick of me and just said get her into

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Speaker 3: the younger team and I think I was around six

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Speaker 3: at that stage and just joined in with the boys

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Speaker 3: team there. And as soon as I started playing with

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Speaker 3: that team, I just became absolutely obsessed with it and

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Speaker 3: knew that that was my place and I'd found what

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Speaker 3: I wanted to do.

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Speaker 1: What was it about soccer, because obviously Melbourne's pretty pretty

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Speaker 1: AFL centric I got to experience out the last couple

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Speaker 1: of years. Was your what do you reckon. It was

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Speaker 1: about the game that drew you in.

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Speaker 2: I mean at that age, I'm not really sure. I

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Speaker 2: don't know.

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Speaker 3: I did oz kick when I was really little, but

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Speaker 3: I don't think I was ever stuck in it to

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Speaker 3: the point where I was like, this is where I'm

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Speaker 3: going to play. And I'm actually I've never asked why

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Speaker 3: my brother went and joined the soccer team. I think

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Speaker 3: I don't want to like out him here, but I

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Speaker 3: think my mum wanted him to make more friends or something,

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Speaker 3: so he signed him up. So I think it was

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Speaker 3: more just like lucky that he was a little bit

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Speaker 3: awkward when he was little.

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Speaker 1: I ended up stitching up your brother my big time.

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Speaker 2: He's going to kill me. But yeah, I think it

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Speaker 2: was more luck.

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Speaker 3: But I just as soon as I played that first

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Speaker 3: training session, it was I just became obsessed with it

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Speaker 3: and I kind of just felt like I always had

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Speaker 3: a little bit of a point to prove against the boys,

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Speaker 3: and I love that competitiveness and the ability to get better, and.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, just fell in love with it.

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Speaker 1: I feel like that's a big part with my sport.

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Speaker 1: I've gotten older and a younger brother and like just

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Speaker 1: playing in the backyard I was probably the most competitive

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Speaker 1: kid in the world. Do you reckon that influence the

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Speaker 1: way that you go about what you do now?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely.

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Speaker 3: I think you know, growing up with the boys as

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Speaker 3: a little girl, there's always that that doubt and that

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Speaker 3: you know, they always look at you as just a

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Speaker 3: girl or whatever back then. So I always had this

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Speaker 3: sort of fire in my belly to prove them wrong,

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Speaker 3: in this competitive spirit that I always wanted to be

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Speaker 3: better than them and be able to do exactly what

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Speaker 3: they wanted to do.

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Speaker 2: And I think that definitely helped me in good stead.

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Speaker 3: I played with the boys for a long time, but

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Speaker 3: there's something about playing against them in the backyard or

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Speaker 3: the front yard when you're growing up. There's this scrappiness

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Speaker 3: and you know there's no rules, and I think that

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Speaker 3: just that toughens you up and prepares you for sport.

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Speaker 2: For sure.

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Speaker 1: Was there a moment that you decided that you wanted

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Speaker 1: to play professionally or that you wanted to represent your country?

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Speaker 1: Was there anything that sticks out in your memory?

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Speaker 3: There was, so for a long time, I really wasn't

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Speaker 3: aware that there was a pathway for girls because I

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Speaker 3: was obviously just playing with the boys.

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Speaker 2: I remember when I.

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Speaker 3: Was let'd say I was about twelve eleven or twelve,

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Speaker 3: maybe younger when this someone approached my club coach about

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Speaker 3: me trialing for my first representative team in Victoria, and

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Speaker 3: I remember my dad sitting me down and telling me

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Speaker 3: about it, and I just started crying because I thought

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Speaker 3: the boys team didn't want me anymore, and I didn't

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Speaker 3: I didn't really understand the concept of what a rep

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Speaker 3: team was or what it meant, so I was just

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Speaker 3: really against it and offended. So eventually my dad explained

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Speaker 3: to me what it was, and I went in chrialed,

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Speaker 3: And when I saw all the other girls that were

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Speaker 3: my age and were doing what I was doing, I

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Speaker 3: think it really clicked for me there. And you know,

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Speaker 3: I went to the trial and did really well and

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Speaker 3: made the team. And I think as soon as I

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Speaker 3: stepped into that representative group, it sort of became real,

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Speaker 3: and you know, I figured out what the matilda were

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Speaker 3: and what the pathway could be, and yet or really

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Speaker 3: grew from there.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't too long after that. Was it at fifteen

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Speaker 1: years old that you made your debut in the w League?

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Speaker 2: Yes?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, pretty young?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, very young looking back at it now, I think

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Speaker 3: about fifteen year olds when I'm around them and I'm like,

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Speaker 3: oh my gosh, how was I doing that?

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Speaker 1: It's impressive. How did that come about?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Well, I so that representative team that I was telling

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Speaker 3: you about, it was called the NTC program, and that

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Speaker 3: was there was two different age groups.

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Speaker 2: There was a younger age.

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Speaker 3: Group, so I think was under thirteen's, and then there

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Speaker 3: was the senior women's NTC program, which basically was Melbourne Victory.

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Speaker 3: So they would in their off season they were trained

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Speaker 3: as the NTC program and then leading in they had

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Speaker 3: the same coach, so leading in then they would turn

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Speaker 3: into Melbourn Victory during the w League season because it

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Speaker 3: was so short, so the coach was actually doing junior

224
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Speaker 3: and the senior at that time, so the junior girls

225
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Speaker 3: would train earlier and then the senior guys would trained

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Speaker 3: straight after, and.

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Speaker 2: So he would.

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Speaker 3: Coach me in the junior team, and then eventually he

229
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Speaker 3: started feeding players into the senior girls, so you would

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Speaker 3: sometimes end up training twice or just train with the

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Speaker 3: senior girls. And I guess I fit in pretty well

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Speaker 3: pretty early. I think I was training full time with

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Speaker 3: them when I was fourteen, but obviously going to the wage,

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Speaker 3: you have to be fifteen, So I ended up making

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Speaker 3: my debut when I was fifteen, and yeah, kind of

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Speaker 3: stuck at it since then.

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Speaker 1: What was that experience like? And is it weird looking

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Speaker 1: back now with how many years you've been playing you

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Speaker 1: kind of look at it when you're fifteen year old

240
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Speaker 1: and you're like, what was I even doing back then?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I would actually love to watch back some of

242
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Speaker 3: those games because I just think I'd have no idea

243
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Speaker 3: running around like a headless chick. But yeah, I do

244
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Speaker 3: remember my debut. It was actually the wildest debut because

245
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Speaker 3: it was a doubleheader with the men's at Eddie Hadds

246
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Speaker 3: Stadium which is now Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, so it's

247
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Speaker 3: in front of like a decent sized crowd, big stadium,

248
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Speaker 3: and I just came off the bench and was just

249
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Speaker 3: like an energy. I got bunny and running around and

250
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Speaker 3: remember I put in a couple of really weak crosses

251
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Speaker 3: and just.

252
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Speaker 2: Was flying around the ground.

253
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Speaker 3: But yeah, no, looking back now, it's really crazy to think,

254
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Speaker 3: but at that stage I was just really writing with

255
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Speaker 3: whatever was happening, and it was happening really quickly. I

256
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Speaker 3: think I went into my first U seventeen National team

257
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Speaker 3: camp pretty soon after that, so yeah, it all just

258
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Speaker 3: started falling into place, and a lot of the hard

259
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Speaker 3: work that I'd done from a young age was sort

260
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Speaker 3: of starting to come together and I was starting to

261
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Speaker 3: see the rewards for it. So it did happen really quickly,

262
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Speaker 3: but yeah, I wouldn't change that for the world.

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Speaker 1: It was twenty twelve that you made your debut for

264
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Speaker 1: the Matildas. What did that feel like getting to pull

265
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Speaker 1: in the Australian jersey for the very first time.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a really surreal moment.

267
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Speaker 3: Because I think from when I was really young and

268
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Speaker 3: when I finally figured out what the Matildas were, I

269
00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:25,000
Speaker 3: was just so obsessed and so driven with making that

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Speaker 3: happen that the day that it happened was just Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I mean it feels like a blur, and at the

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Speaker 3: time it was a little bit of a blur, but

273
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Speaker 3: such a proud moment and something I'd work so so

274
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Speaker 3: hard for.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, look back on that really fondly.

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Speaker 1: What has the experience been like for you across a

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Speaker 1: couple of teams, You've been in a leadership role. How

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Speaker 1: do you, I guess, approach that leadership and do you

279
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Speaker 1: feel like you the more experience you've got throughout your career,

280
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Speaker 1: do you feel like you've changed the way that you've

281
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Speaker 1: been in that leadership position.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

283
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Speaker 3: I think leadership for me is sort of been an

284
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Speaker 3: interesting one. I don't think I ever saw myself as

285
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Speaker 3: a leader when I was growing up, and then I

286
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Speaker 3: think eventually I started getting put into the roles, and.

287
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Speaker 2: I guess I had a view of.

288
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Speaker 3: Leadership when I was younger that you know, you had

289
00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:24,280
Speaker 3: to be the loudest and you know, maybe the superstar

290
00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,680
Speaker 3: player or just all the wrong views of leadership, Whereas

291
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Speaker 3: a lot of the coaches that I had were very

292
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Speaker 3: much just like, what you're doing is leadership. Don't change anything.

293
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Speaker 3: Don't try and be something you're not. Your leadership's on

294
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Speaker 3: the field. Your leaderships in the relationships that you have

295
00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:42,239
Speaker 3: and the way that you communicate.

296
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Speaker 2: So don't change anything.

297
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Speaker 3: And I think that sometime it took me a while

298
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Speaker 3: to really understand, but once it clicked, it was so

299
00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,680
Speaker 3: clear to me that you if you're trying to be

300
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Speaker 3: something that you're not in trying to be what you

301
00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,680
Speaker 3: think is your definition of a leader, then that's not

302
00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:04,200
Speaker 3: really leadership. It's yeah, you're going to suffer more for

303
00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:09,160
Speaker 3: it than not. So Yeah, I think once I learned that,

304
00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,160
Speaker 3: it sort of just came naturally and I knew I

305
00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,320
Speaker 3: just had to be myself and do what I knew

306
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Speaker 3: how to do and not change anything for the sake

307
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Speaker 3: of the definition of some people's leadership.

308
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Speaker 1: I find it interesting how you say when you're a

309
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Speaker 1: little kid that you didn't even really know about the Matildas,

310
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Speaker 1: And I think that was probably a common theme for

311
00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:29,160
Speaker 1: a lot of young girls across a whole range of

312
00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:33,360
Speaker 1: sports because we didn't really have access to media and

313
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Speaker 1: watching women's sport on TV and all of those kind

314
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Speaker 1: of things. Do you think now, Obviously a lot of

315
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Speaker 1: those players who you may have looked up to could

316
00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:43,520
Speaker 1: be your peers that you get to play alongside for

317
00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:45,560
Speaker 1: the Matilda's, But do you still have players that you,

318
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Speaker 1: I guess aspired to be like or that you may

319
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Speaker 1: still idolize in some sense for the way that they

320
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Speaker 1: carry themselves or the way that they lead.

321
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Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.

322
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Speaker 3: I mean there's growing up in Melbourne, I not knowing

323
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,440
Speaker 3: with the Matildas, were not knowing that, you know, female

324
00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:05,720
Speaker 3: athletes were out there because there just was no coverage.

325
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Speaker 3: A lot of my idols were AFL players even when

326
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Speaker 3: I was playing football.

327
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Speaker 2: I just I'm a big sink Kilda supporter.

328
00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,520
Speaker 3: So I loved Lenny Hayes, I loved Nick Riewell, and

329
00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,680
Speaker 3: I really emulated myself as an athlete on what they

330
00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:21,240
Speaker 3: were good at.

331
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Speaker 2: So looking back, if I whenever I tell.

332
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:27,800
Speaker 3: That story to football people, I'm always a little bit like,

333
00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:31,800
Speaker 3: they're probably gonna hate this because it's all about football

334
00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:32,800
Speaker 3: and the football sphere.

335
00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:34,120
Speaker 2: But they were my idols.

336
00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,000
Speaker 3: But I suppose once things started to open up a

337
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,480
Speaker 3: little bit, I was able to, you know, watch other players.

338
00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,600
Speaker 3: And I had Melissa Barbieri in Victoria who was the

339
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:50,160
Speaker 3: captain of the Matildas. So she was a big idol

340
00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,000
Speaker 3: for me because she was doing what I wanted to

341
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,920
Speaker 3: be doing. She was from Victoria and she was the

342
00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:59,040
Speaker 3: player that I had the most access to, so I

343
00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,240
Speaker 3: wou'd say she was a big idol for me growing up.

344
00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,160
Speaker 2: Now, I think I just learned.

345
00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:10,280
Speaker 3: So much from watching women's sport and watching women's football.

346
00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:14,240
Speaker 3: I pick up little things from every single player that

347
00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:18,080
Speaker 3: I watch in some sense, So yeah, I'm not sure

348
00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:21,280
Speaker 3: that I have so much of an idol but I'm

349
00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:26,320
Speaker 3: definitely learning from watching women's football and watching you know,

350
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:27,920
Speaker 3: women in sport every single day.

351
00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,360
Speaker 1: After a few years in the w League, he had

352
00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:35,520
Speaker 1: the chance to head over to America and continue your

353
00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,800
Speaker 1: career over there. What was part of making that decision

354
00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:39,440
Speaker 1: to head on over.

355
00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,399
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I had so I was playing a little

356
00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,480
Speaker 3: bit with the national scene at that point and they,

357
00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,560
Speaker 3: actually the Portland Thorns, just contacted me and said that

358
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:53,840
Speaker 3: they'd been watching me for a little while and really

359
00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:56,840
Speaker 3: wanted me to come over and play. And it was

360
00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,640
Speaker 3: just a massive, massive offer for me at the time

361
00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:02,879
Speaker 3: because you know, Portland was one of the best club

362
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:07,960
Speaker 3: teams in the world. They had Alex Morgan, Christine Sinclair,

363
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:11,240
Speaker 3: Vero Briquette was the captain of the Spanish national team,

364
00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:16,760
Speaker 3: Sovin Heath just all these absolute world class ballers and

365
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:18,840
Speaker 3: they came knocking on my door and I was a

366
00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,200
Speaker 3: bit like, okay, this.

367
00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:22,360
Speaker 2: Is out of nowhere.

368
00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:24,880
Speaker 3: But it was an opportunity that when it shows up,

369
00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:27,399
Speaker 3: you just don't. I just knew that that was my

370
00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,400
Speaker 3: next step and my next challenge, and obviously it meant

371
00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:34,879
Speaker 3: moving out away from home, moving to a new country.

372
00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:37,080
Speaker 3: So it was all a bit daunting, but it was

373
00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:40,080
Speaker 3: just one of those things that naturally I knew that

374
00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,440
Speaker 3: that was what I needed to be doing, and that was.

375
00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:44,159
Speaker 2: Where I was going to take my career to the

376
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:44,760
Speaker 2: next level.

377
00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,560
Speaker 3: So it's a big challenge, but one that I definitely

378
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:50,120
Speaker 3: don't regret at all.

379
00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,080
Speaker 1: Did it take you a while to get settled over

380
00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:56,000
Speaker 1: there on and off the field or did you fit

381
00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:57,240
Speaker 1: in relatively quickly?

382
00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:00,399
Speaker 3: No, it took me a long time, to be honest.

383
00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,160
Speaker 3: It was when I walked into the change room there,

384
00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:09,480
Speaker 3: all of those incredible players that had done amazing things

385
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:13,399
Speaker 3: already in their career, World Cup winners, Olympic winners, Golden

386
00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:17,719
Speaker 3: Boot winners, the lot. I came from Australia where I

387
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:19,840
Speaker 3: was pretty much at the top of my game. I'd

388
00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,800
Speaker 3: done most things and had done you know, had been successful.

389
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:25,679
Speaker 3: And then I walked into the change room there and

390
00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:28,639
Speaker 3: I was just a small fish in a massive pond.

391
00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:31,639
Speaker 3: And I was by far the youngest, by far the

392
00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:35,800
Speaker 3: most inexperienced, and I definitely went into my shell a

393
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,760
Speaker 3: little bit and it was all very foreign to me.

394
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,960
Speaker 3: But yeah, I went out to training the first couple

395
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,879
Speaker 3: of weeks and noticed the differences in my body I

396
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,880
Speaker 3: was a skinny, little fuzzy girl that needed to bowl

397
00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,840
Speaker 3: up and I definitely felt that in the trainings and

398
00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:58,360
Speaker 3: in the games, and I think, you know, my first

399
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,479
Speaker 3: I played in the first Cup of games, and I

400
00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,679
Speaker 3: think I did okay. I was pretty pasty back then,

401
00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,160
Speaker 3: so I was able to get out of certain situations,

402
00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,159
Speaker 3: but I also wasn't making it a big impact or

403
00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:12,920
Speaker 3: a great impact. I was playing very safe and kind

404
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,080
Speaker 3: of just trying to get get through. And I remember

405
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:19,320
Speaker 3: in must have been like the third or fourth game

406
00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:22,879
Speaker 3: we were playing in Washington, and I played the first

407
00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,359
Speaker 3: half and did the same sort of thing. Wasn't I

408
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,840
Speaker 3: wasn't bad, but I wasn't necessarily good. And the coach

409
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,439
Speaker 3: sat me down at halftime and just said it's not

410
00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:33,560
Speaker 3: good enough and you're going to have to come off,

411
00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,720
Speaker 3: and took me off at halftime, and I just remember

412
00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:43,359
Speaker 3: being like absolutely devastated, embarrassed, confused. Obviously it never happened

413
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:47,320
Speaker 3: to me before, and it just sort of really shook me.

414
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,720
Speaker 3: And I remember speaking to my family on the phone

415
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,320
Speaker 3: once I got back to Portland and just saying, this

416
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:55,760
Speaker 3: is not this is not why I came here. If

417
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:57,199
Speaker 3: I sit on the bench you know, I might not

418
00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:58,359
Speaker 3: play for the national team.

419
00:20:58,920 --> 00:20:59,760
Speaker 2: What am I going to do?

420
00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,080
Speaker 3: And then my brother's always been really good at grounding

421
00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,520
Speaker 3: me and bring me back down to earth. So I

422
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,800
Speaker 3: had a good conversation with him, and I remember by

423
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:13,680
Speaker 3: the time I hung up the phone, I was rejuvenated

424
00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,199
Speaker 3: in the sense that we'd spoken about the fact that

425
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,960
Speaker 3: that's not why I came to Portland. I went to

426
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,080
Speaker 3: Portland to challenge myself and to learn from the players

427
00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:26,240
Speaker 3: around me and get better. I didn't necessarily go there

428
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,639
Speaker 3: to just play and stay the same.

429
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:30,680
Speaker 2: So once I got my.

430
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,120
Speaker 3: Head around that, I would go to training every day,

431
00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:35,720
Speaker 3: I would be.

432
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:37,760
Speaker 2: The hardest worker. I would ask.

433
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:42,120
Speaker 3: Questions, learn from people, stay after training and do extras,

434
00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 3: just whatever I needed to do to get better. I

435
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,160
Speaker 3: spent a lot of time in the gym and actually

436
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:53,040
Speaker 3: became a more of an athlete, and eventually I got

437
00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:56,080
Speaker 3: my chance off the bench. Would have been a couple

438
00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,960
Speaker 3: of weeks later, maybe a bit longer, and I think

439
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,439
Speaker 3: think we were down to one against a team at

440
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,240
Speaker 3: home and it was like a sold out crowd. It

441
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,760
Speaker 3: was like the coolest experience ever. But I came off

442
00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:10,680
Speaker 3: the bench and I got two assists and we ended

443
00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,840
Speaker 3: up winning. So it was like such a cool feeling

444
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,399
Speaker 3: to have done that work and have sort of battled

445
00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:21,640
Speaker 3: through that experience on my own and come out on top.

446
00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,840
Speaker 3: And I think I played pretty much the rest of

447
00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,000
Speaker 3: the season and had a really good year. So I

448
00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,719
Speaker 3: look back at that moment and it was obviously extremely

449
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,320
Speaker 3: difficult at the time, and as much as it hurt,

450
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:39,320
Speaker 3: I think that moment really defined my career in terms

451
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,000
Speaker 3: of knowing that I was in control and what I

452
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,399
Speaker 3: put into it and what I could get out of

453
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,680
Speaker 3: myself would set me up for the rest of my career.

454
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:53,040
Speaker 1: Wow. I like this idea of having to, I guess,

455
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 1: have the humility to put yourself in a situation where

456
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,800
Speaker 1: you're surrounded by very talented, experienced people, but being willing

457
00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 1: to your hand up and ask questions and not always

458
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:04,280
Speaker 1: know the right answer. I think for me, when I

459
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,560
Speaker 1: went and played with Carlton and AFLW, I didn't grow

460
00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:09,240
Speaker 1: up in Melbourne, so I barely knew the rules of

461
00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:11,679
Speaker 1: footy when I first gave it a crack, so a

462
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 1: lot of the times I probably looked like an absolute

463
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:18,320
Speaker 1: idiot asking lots of questions. But what do you think

464
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,480
Speaker 1: that I guess enables you to do. And why do

465
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,680
Speaker 1: you think that element of it is so important when

466
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:24,600
Speaker 1: you're learning and growing as a player.

467
00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think once you recognize that you

468
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,720
Speaker 3: don't know everything, it opens you up to so many

469
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:38,040
Speaker 3: different situations and learning opportunities. And I think when you're

470
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:42,200
Speaker 3: in a team as well, the people, the more experienced

471
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,560
Speaker 3: players around you that you're asking the questions of it

472
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,679
Speaker 3: gives them a sense of trust that you know they

473
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,639
Speaker 3: that you want to learn from them and you know,

474
00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 3: be a part of the team in whatever sense you

475
00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:56,320
Speaker 3: can and you're not too big for the team and

476
00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:00,840
Speaker 3: whatever it is. Yeah, I think in that sense, it's

477
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:05,520
Speaker 3: just important to always ask questions and to always have

478
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,159
Speaker 3: the idea that you don't know everything, because you can

479
00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 3: always get better. And I was so young at that point,

480
00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,440
Speaker 3: and it was a confusing time because I had come

481
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,399
Speaker 3: from a situation where I had done most things in

482
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,879
Speaker 3: Australia and I was going to the very very bottom

483
00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:22,200
Speaker 3: of the food chain in America.

484
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,080
Speaker 2: So it was a bit of a shock to the system.

485
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 3: But it proved to me that there was so much

486
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 3: more to do and so much more to learn. And

487
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,119
Speaker 3: once I opened myself up to that. I really felt

488
00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:36,120
Speaker 3: that I could become a much better player, a much

489
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 3: better person.

490
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:37,200
Speaker 1: And.

491
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:40,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was sort of forced into it, but as

492
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,480
Speaker 3: soon as I recognized that, it just it opened me

493
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:44,720
Speaker 3: up to so many different things.

494
00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,280
Speaker 1: What does that look like, the balance between did you

495
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,600
Speaker 1: go kind of one season in the US and then

496
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:51,440
Speaker 1: come home and play a season in the W League

497
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,040
Speaker 1: and alternate between the two over that period?

498
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:59,240
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, so I did that for around six, six

499
00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:03,560
Speaker 3: or seven years. So yeah, I would literally do the

500
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:08,119
Speaker 3: summer in Australia in Melbourne and then the summer in

501
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 3: America basically, so I just would constantly skip the winters,

502
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:12,160
Speaker 3: which is great.

503
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,119
Speaker 2: But yeah, also a lot a lot football wise.

504
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:20,440
Speaker 3: It was NonStop, and you throw in national team camps

505
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 3: and World Cups and Olympics and all those sorts of

506
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,400
Speaker 3: things in between, and it was just NonStop football, which

507
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,520
Speaker 3: is really a dream when you think about it that

508
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,199
Speaker 3: it definitely does catch up with you eventually.

509
00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:36,240
Speaker 1: Yeah. Was there ever a moment during that process where

510
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,920
Speaker 1: you kind of wish that you could have taken time

511
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:40,640
Speaker 1: off and had a break from it.

512
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:41,840
Speaker 2: Not really.

513
00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,720
Speaker 3: I don't regret any of the clubs that I've played

514
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:51,360
Speaker 3: at and I've thoroughly enjoyed being at every single one

515
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,280
Speaker 3: of them, and I think everything sort of prepared me

516
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,040
Speaker 3: for playing at major tournaments with the national team and

517
00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:01,880
Speaker 3: things like that. But there was time, like leading into

518
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,360
Speaker 3: the Olympics, I had a stress fracture.

519
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:04,400
Speaker 1: Which is.

520
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:07,760
Speaker 2: Obviously just an overuse injury.

521
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 3: So I think back things like that, and maybe if

522
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,600
Speaker 3: some point I had had some time off, I might

523
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:14,520
Speaker 3: not have had that injury, and then I would have

524
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:17,520
Speaker 3: had a clean run into the Olympics and maybe had

525
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:21,159
Speaker 3: a bigger impact and things like that. But that's all

526
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,280
Speaker 3: sort of in hindsight. And you know, I loved my

527
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:26,919
Speaker 3: time in the NWSL and also my time in the

528
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:31,000
Speaker 3: w League, So yeah, I wouldn't change it for the world,

529
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:35,200
Speaker 3: but maybe I would. I would have approached some tournaments

530
00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 3: in better shape than I was, but I still got

531
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:38,639
Speaker 3: to play.

532
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:42,840
Speaker 1: So now for a quick half time break. Workplace Law

533
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,639
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534
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,520
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535
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536
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537
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Speaker 1: athletes with guidance through the complexities of player contracts, negotiations

538
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 1: and sponsorship agreements, personal brand building, mentoring with on and

539
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:06,119
Speaker 1: off field careers, crisis management and work with individuals to

540
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,760
Speaker 1: ensure they respond to incidents and media stories in an

541
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:13,920
Speaker 1: appropriate manner. And advice and representation in disciplinary hearings and tribunals.

542
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,720
Speaker 1: Find out more at www dot Workplace Law dot com

543
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:22,160
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544
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,880
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545
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546
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547
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548
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549
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550
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:47,480
Speaker 1: move out on the field, state of the art recovery services,

551
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552
00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,480
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553
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 1: at athletes Authority dot com dot au to find out more.

554
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,639
Speaker 1: I want to touch on the twenty or twenty nineteen

555
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:05,919
Speaker 1: twenty twenty w League season where in the final you

556
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:10,040
Speaker 1: scored the winning goal against Sydney C. What was that

557
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:14,560
Speaker 1: like to be back on home soil with your teammates

558
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:16,840
Speaker 1: and score the goal and get that win.

559
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a pretty special moment.

560
00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:24,399
Speaker 3: We'd had a really, really incredible year, and that was

561
00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:29,159
Speaker 3: probably the most that I had enjoyed playing with a particular.

562
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:30,600
Speaker 2: Team for a long time.

563
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:33,919
Speaker 3: We just had such a great balance of people and

564
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:38,080
Speaker 3: players and such a talented team that every game in

565
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 3: that w League season was so enjoyable and we played

566
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:45,160
Speaker 3: really really good football. Sore more so than most of

567
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,040
Speaker 3: the other titles that we'd won. I felt like we

568
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,560
Speaker 3: really deserved that one. So going into that game, I

569
00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:54,160
Speaker 3: sort of was a little bit more nervous than I

570
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,360
Speaker 3: probably have been in the past for games like that,

571
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 3: just because I really wanted it for this particular team.

572
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,240
Speaker 3: That was probably the first game where we'd started really

573
00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 3: poorly and we'd Sydney were all over us, and it

574
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:11,400
Speaker 3: just felt like, Oh, this can't be happening. So I

575
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,840
Speaker 3: felt like I was trying to do more than I

576
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 3: probably would, which is not the advice that I would

577
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,320
Speaker 3: give to young players to try and do more than

578
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,760
Speaker 3: your role. But I was flying around and just desperately

579
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 3: wanted to help and found myself in the box. And

580
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:29,680
Speaker 3: I think it was one of the first games where

581
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,560
Speaker 3: crowds weren't allowed because of COVID stuff, so it was

582
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:35,680
Speaker 3: just like, I think we were allowed two or three

583
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 3: family and friends. So it was an empty Amy Park

584
00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:41,080
Speaker 3: and I was in the box and I remember hearing

585
00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:45,120
Speaker 3: my brother shout from the stands shoot and I usually

586
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 3: in that position, i'd probably look to cut it back

587
00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:49,600
Speaker 3: or to cross because I'm just that's just the sort

588
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 3: of I don't really shoot enough for a lot, but

589
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:54,720
Speaker 3: hearing and say shoot.

590
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:55,760
Speaker 2: I just put my foot through.

591
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,880
Speaker 3: It wasn't the best shot, but I struck it quite hard,

592
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:03,000
Speaker 3: and I was just like that Aubrey Bred Bledsoe, who's

593
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,960
Speaker 3: an incredible goalkeeper, made a bit of a fumble and

594
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,200
Speaker 3: he kind of bumbled.

595
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,479
Speaker 2: Over the line. But yeah, I kind of have my

596
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:10,960
Speaker 2: brother to thank for that one.

597
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,200
Speaker 1: That's pretty cool. I'm glad he's getting a thank you

598
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 1: after throwing him under the bus early.

599
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:18,120
Speaker 2: Good point.

600
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:22,600
Speaker 3: He's really had the lowest lows of the highest poor guy.

601
00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:27,200
Speaker 1: Every week, I have a question from a five year

602
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,800
Speaker 1: old and from my grandma, so I might way the

603
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:35,080
Speaker 1: question from a five year old freeda first, Hi step.

604
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:42,880
Speaker 3: Get really cold playing soccer in London. Oh my god,

605
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 3: my heart, that is so cute.

606
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,760
Speaker 2: Okay, does it get really cold? It gets very very cold.

607
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,800
Speaker 3: And like I was saying before, I have gone from

608
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 3: summer to summer for six or seven years before this,

609
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,040
Speaker 3: so I've been an absolute shock.

610
00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:01,360
Speaker 2: And how cold it is.

611
00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:05,280
Speaker 3: But yeah, they do provide you with all the things

612
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 3: you need to stay warm, like a snood around your neck, gloves.

613
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,000
Speaker 1: A snood. What's a snood.

614
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:15,280
Speaker 3: It's like a kind of like a scarf, but you

615
00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:17,200
Speaker 3: put it over your head. It's a circle and it

616
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,560
Speaker 3: comes up and you can cover your nose and your

617
00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:21,400
Speaker 3: mouth and.

618
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,120
Speaker 2: It just sits there. So it just meets like your

619
00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:24,720
Speaker 2: face warm.

620
00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,360
Speaker 3: You know, all the underama and skins and gloves and

621
00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 3: everything you kind of need to try and stay warm.

622
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,400
Speaker 2: But it's pretty cold. It's really really cold.

623
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 1: What has that experience been like? Has that allowed you,

624
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 1: I guess, rather than kind of going between between the

625
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 1: two like you were flying season to season, does it

626
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,040
Speaker 1: allow you to be, I guess, more of a professional,

627
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,040
Speaker 1: full time athlete where you can focus completely on that.

628
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:52,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. I mean this year has been a really

629
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 3: really strange year. For me because I've had so many

630
00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,960
Speaker 3: injuries and it's really thrown my season into a bit of.

631
00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:01,040
Speaker 2: A a spin.

632
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,960
Speaker 3: But we do have a bit of an off season

633
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:09,320
Speaker 3: coming up, but that's going to be preparation for Olympics,

634
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,280
Speaker 3: so it'll probably be a similar year to what I'm

635
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,040
Speaker 3: used to to be honest, But I think, you know,

636
00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:17,960
Speaker 3: with the injuries and stuff, I've been able to build

637
00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:21,080
Speaker 3: my body up and almost have a really really long

638
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,959
Speaker 3: pre season to prepare for this Olympic period coming up,

639
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:27,560
Speaker 3: and then by the time I get back, I'll be

640
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:31,840
Speaker 3: into a pre season with Arsenal, So I think it's

641
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 3: probably worked out quite well, more so from the injuries

642
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,680
Speaker 3: point of view. And I did have a break through

643
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,040
Speaker 3: that COVID, that first COVID period straight after the W League,

644
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,240
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think I'm at a point now where

645
00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,440
Speaker 3: my body's had to break how to rest, been able

646
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:52,240
Speaker 3: to build up through this rehab period and hopefully it's

647
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:56,440
Speaker 3: just firing and ready to go for the Olympic period

648
00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:57,000
Speaker 3: coming up.

649
00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:00,520
Speaker 1: So when you not long after you over there, had

650
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:05,040
Speaker 1: a couple of calf injuries and then came back and

651
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,880
Speaker 1: did your hammy, can you tell us about that moment.

652
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:12,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a really tough one.

653
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:17,480
Speaker 3: When I arrived, I got the calf injury pretty early

654
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 3: on and just had so many different setbacks with that

655
00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 3: that it really dragged on for a long time. And

656
00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:28,080
Speaker 3: then finally I got back to the point where I

657
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,160
Speaker 3: was getting some minutes off the bench and I was

658
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:34,280
Speaker 3: training fully and my body was feeling great. And then

659
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,160
Speaker 3: at the end of a training session, I was taking

660
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:42,520
Speaker 3: some corners and I was just basically practicing chipping them

661
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,520
Speaker 3: into the front post, and nothing with crazy power or

662
00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,160
Speaker 3: anything that you would expect to get injured from. But

663
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:53,920
Speaker 3: on one of the corners, I did that movement and mid air,

664
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:58,520
Speaker 3: my hamstring just went, and yeah, I knew straight away,

665
00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 3: because it's like if anyone if I don't know if

666
00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:04,120
Speaker 3: you've done a hamstring before, but just feels like you've

667
00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:05,280
Speaker 3: been shot basically.

668
00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 2: So I came down and I was in denial.

669
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:11,160
Speaker 3: For it because I'd obviously just come back, so I

670
00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:14,359
Speaker 3: was like, nah, nah, it's just cramping, it's fine, And

671
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:16,879
Speaker 3: then I took a step and couldn't really wait there,

672
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:20,040
Speaker 3: so I knew that I'd done it pretty bad, and

673
00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,080
Speaker 3: I just left the field straight away, didn't say anything

674
00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:28,000
Speaker 3: to anyone. And the physio was up near the Chaine

675
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:33,240
Speaker 3: room door, and she yeah, as soon as I locked

676
00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,000
Speaker 3: eyes with her, she knew, and it was just like

677
00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:36,480
Speaker 3: here we go again.

678
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:40,319
Speaker 2: But I didn't At that point. I knew it was.

679
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,640
Speaker 3: Bad, but I didn't think that it was to the

680
00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:47,120
Speaker 3: point where I would need surgery and that it would

681
00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:49,320
Speaker 3: be as bad as it was. So it was a

682
00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:55,320
Speaker 3: pretty dark period for me and something that I definitely

683
00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:58,879
Speaker 3: needed to lean on people and work through a lot

684
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:03,719
Speaker 3: of different things mental and yeah, it was definitely tough.

685
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:06,640
Speaker 3: And obviously being away in at a new club and

686
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,360
Speaker 3: not being able to make an impact improve myself on

687
00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:11,279
Speaker 3: the field and for it just to happen over and

688
00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:15,120
Speaker 3: over again was just really really shattering.

689
00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:17,640
Speaker 2: But yeah, eventually I.

690
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,600
Speaker 3: Let myself sulk for a little bit. I got a

691
00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:24,480
Speaker 3: week or so away from the training field just to

692
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:30,480
Speaker 3: eat cake and not think about football, and then eventually

693
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,880
Speaker 3: once I got back, I was just ready to go

694
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 3: again and wanted to jump straight back into my rehab.

695
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:40,759
Speaker 1: So I find that, like recurring injury things, such a

696
00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:44,040
Speaker 1: difficult one because so many athletes obviously have to deal

697
00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,040
Speaker 1: with it. I think a lot of the time people

698
00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:49,520
Speaker 1: probably don't understand often when you're coming back from one injury,

699
00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:53,399
Speaker 1: your body obviously sometimes gets overloaded in a different way,

700
00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:55,719
Speaker 1: and there's so many different elements that come with that.

701
00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 1: And then within your own headspace, you've almost got a

702
00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:02,319
Speaker 1: process it yourself and deal with the grief of the

703
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:04,520
Speaker 1: injury and what that means for not playing and things

704
00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:06,600
Speaker 1: like that. But then there's also the added element of

705
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,600
Speaker 1: having to tell people, whether that's your teammates or the

706
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:13,560
Speaker 1: staff or even just people who follow you as a player.

707
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,880
Speaker 1: Did you find that process quite difficult after having a

708
00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:19,640
Speaker 1: couple of injuries prior to that as well.

709
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:21,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, that was.

710
00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:24,560
Speaker 3: Like you said, it's something that you probably don't think

711
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:26,440
Speaker 3: about or people wouldn't understand.

712
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:30,400
Speaker 2: But when I did my hamstring, I walked off the

713
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,640
Speaker 2: field straight away because I didn't want to tell anyone,

714
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:33,160
Speaker 2: and I.

715
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:36,440
Speaker 3: Just wanted to slide away and hide into a deep

716
00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:41,480
Speaker 3: dark hole. And the physio kind of whisked me away

717
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,759
Speaker 3: and did some checks and basically said, it doesn't it

718
00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:49,279
Speaker 3: doesn't look good, we're booking for scam whatever. I had

719
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:52,640
Speaker 3: a bit of a cry and a blow up and

720
00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:56,040
Speaker 3: whatever it was in that space of that room, and

721
00:36:56,080 --> 00:37:01,080
Speaker 3: then I think I saw the Rose. A physio asked

722
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 3: me if I wanted any I wanted to see anyone,

723
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:06,400
Speaker 3: and at first I said no, but Lydia Williams is

724
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,399
Speaker 3: over here, who's one of my closest friends. So I said, oh,

725
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:11,960
Speaker 3: you know, Lydia can come in. And she came in

726
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:14,040
Speaker 3: and gave me a big hug and was there to

727
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:16,960
Speaker 3: support me. But after that, I just really wanted to

728
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:19,880
Speaker 3: get out of there and not have to face seeing

729
00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:24,320
Speaker 3: anyone and telling people what had happened. And then I

730
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,160
Speaker 3: think I called my partner Dean on the way home,

731
00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:32,040
Speaker 3: and then yeah, it kind of starts to sink in

732
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 3: and eventually, I, you know, as soon as I wasn't

733
00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:37,960
Speaker 3: on the team sheet and things like that for the

734
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:41,560
Speaker 3: next game, people started asking and it just really brings

735
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:45,120
Speaker 3: it all back up. And yeah, it's a really tough

736
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:47,040
Speaker 3: thing to go through, and it's something that you wouldn't

737
00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,880
Speaker 3: think that you would associate with part of an injury

738
00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:53,080
Speaker 3: as telling people is difficult, but it is and people

739
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,160
Speaker 3: obviously want to support you and want to know what's

740
00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:59,560
Speaker 3: going on, and yeah, that's lovely, but it also is

741
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,440
Speaker 3: it dificult to keep to keep having to tell people

742
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:03,120
Speaker 3: that you're injured.

743
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:08,080
Speaker 2: Again. But it's okay, I'll be back. I'll be back, and.

744
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:09,600
Speaker 3: You know, trying to be positive and whatnot when you're

745
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,719
Speaker 3: really feeling that the opposite can be really draining and

746
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:14,080
Speaker 3: really really tiring.

747
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:16,040
Speaker 2: But yeah, it's a tough one.

748
00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:19,200
Speaker 1: How is your rehab process going at the moment.

749
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:20,839
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going great.

750
00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:26,760
Speaker 3: I had a few little setbacks, of course, which happens

751
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:31,040
Speaker 3: with surgery, but I'm at the point now where I'm

752
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:32,120
Speaker 3: back on the field.

753
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:37,680
Speaker 2: Four times this week, I've been running.

754
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:41,839
Speaker 3: I got to about ninety percent max speed yesterday.

755
00:38:42,239 --> 00:38:44,560
Speaker 1: Nice. Yeah, IKS, that's really cool.

756
00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:46,560
Speaker 2: Thank you. That was a big milestone.

757
00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:49,839
Speaker 3: And I was in a modified part of the team

758
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:54,080
Speaker 3: session yesterday as well, so some big ticks there, and yeah,

759
00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:57,879
Speaker 3: I felt great. I'm at a point where I've sort

760
00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:01,799
Speaker 3: of crossed a boundary I was when I first got

761
00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,080
Speaker 3: back into this rehab and back on the field, I

762
00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:07,520
Speaker 3: had a lot of anxiety that I've never experienced before.

763
00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:11,840
Speaker 3: I had this this I had no trust in my body.

764
00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:13,440
Speaker 3: So I was out there and I was all I

765
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:16,640
Speaker 3: was doing was jogging, and my head was just screaming,

766
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:18,600
Speaker 3: like I was. All I could think about was my

767
00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:22,680
Speaker 3: calves and my hammy and like, did I feel something?

768
00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:25,719
Speaker 3: Should I stop? I was just in this complete ball

769
00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:28,239
Speaker 3: of anxiety. I would have a trainer running next to

770
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:30,480
Speaker 3: me and they would say something and I just wouldn't answer.

771
00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:33,040
Speaker 3: Then tell me after and I said a few things

772
00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:35,600
Speaker 3: to you didn't answer. I was just in such a

773
00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:39,359
Speaker 3: state of anxiety with not trusting my body that all

774
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:41,600
Speaker 3: I could do was you know, think and try and

775
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,879
Speaker 3: get through the jogging session like it wasn't even a lot.

776
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:50,839
Speaker 3: But yeah, that happened for a couple of weeks, and

777
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:53,320
Speaker 3: I think the last week or so, I've felt really

778
00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:55,480
Speaker 3: free and I haven't been thinking about my body at

779
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:58,000
Speaker 3: all and just been able to focus on football and

780
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:03,960
Speaker 3: movements and touch and whatnot and getting back into actually

781
00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:07,120
Speaker 3: running and playing football. So that's been really really nice

782
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:09,640
Speaker 3: and yeah fun.

783
00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:12,839
Speaker 1: Yeah, very cool to tick off some of those milestones.

784
00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:16,799
Speaker 1: Does that time frame allow you to potentially get back

785
00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:17,800
Speaker 1: in time for Tokyo?

786
00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:19,319
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.

787
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:22,520
Speaker 3: So. The girls, the Misildas are in camp at the moment,

788
00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:25,759
Speaker 3: so it sucks to be to be missing that, but

789
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:28,239
Speaker 3: I'm at a really crucial stage in my rehab, so

790
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:30,680
Speaker 3: I think, you know, getting on a plane and going

791
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:34,319
Speaker 3: to a new environment just wouldn't have been smart for

792
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:35,720
Speaker 3: me at this stage.

793
00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:38,200
Speaker 2: So I'm staying.

794
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:40,799
Speaker 3: Here in England and ticking off those boxes that I've

795
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:42,840
Speaker 3: been doing over the last couple of days in the

796
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:43,560
Speaker 3: last weeks.

797
00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:46,399
Speaker 2: But yeah, I'm definitely.

798
00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:48,760
Speaker 3: Close to playing games here and that'll give me plenty

799
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:53,160
Speaker 3: of time to get back in and get fit for Tokyo.

800
00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:53,799
Speaker 2: Definitely.

801
00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:57,200
Speaker 1: You mentioned about Rio the stress fracture in the lead

802
00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:02,480
Speaker 1: up to that, I'm interested. Probably I'm personally invested in

803
00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:03,960
Speaker 1: this as well, because this is something I'm trying to

804
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:06,719
Speaker 1: get my head around and lead up to Tokyo. Not

805
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:10,680
Speaker 1: Rio Tokyo. I've had back surgery about two months ago now,

806
00:41:11,120 --> 00:41:14,319
Speaker 1: and so what I'm trying to battle with is you're

807
00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:16,600
Speaker 1: trying to prepare for the Olympics, which to me is

808
00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:19,280
Speaker 1: like the pinnacle. How do you get your headspace around

809
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:22,040
Speaker 1: the fact that you're coming back from this pretty massive

810
00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,839
Speaker 1: injury or surgery, whatever that looks like, and you might

811
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:27,080
Speaker 1: not be at your very best, like you do all

812
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:29,759
Speaker 1: your work that you possibly can, but you've got to

813
00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:32,320
Speaker 1: accept within yourself like you're going to put everything on

814
00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:34,880
Speaker 1: the line for your teammates, but it's not going to

815
00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:37,399
Speaker 1: be the very best that you know you possibly could be.

816
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I totally get what you're saying.

817
00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:46,480
Speaker 3: I probably had that situation in a more extreme sense

818
00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:51,000
Speaker 3: in Rio because I had that stress fracture and I

819
00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:54,560
Speaker 3: only found out about it. We were there for a

820
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:56,920
Speaker 3: pre camp a month before, so I found out in

821
00:41:56,960 --> 00:42:00,920
Speaker 3: that pre camp. So basically I did no training in

822
00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:03,000
Speaker 3: that month. I was in the pool twice a day

823
00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:06,839
Speaker 3: doing deep water running. I was in the gym every day,

824
00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:08,840
Speaker 3: so I basically trained on my own for a month.

825
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:12,680
Speaker 3: I trained once with the team the day before or

826
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:18,040
Speaker 3: maybe two days before the first game, and then rested

827
00:42:18,040 --> 00:42:21,560
Speaker 3: the next day. And then it was game day against

828
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:25,600
Speaker 3: Canada in our first game of that tournament, and I

829
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:28,600
Speaker 3: was on the bench, but the coach wanted to put

830
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:30,680
Speaker 3: we would I think we're losing or I can't remember

831
00:42:30,719 --> 00:42:32,799
Speaker 3: what happened, but he wanted to make changes and put

832
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,560
Speaker 3: me on at halftime, and then from that moment I

833
00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:38,839
Speaker 3: played the rest of the tournament, full games, everything like that.

834
00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:43,560
Speaker 3: But mentally going into that I was, Yeah, I had

835
00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:46,560
Speaker 3: so many doubts that obviously I'm not training, I'm not

836
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:48,960
Speaker 3: touching a football, how am I going to be from.

837
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:51,840
Speaker 2: The Olympics and be able to give everything that I could.

838
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:56,799
Speaker 3: But yeah, at that stage that even being trusted and

839
00:42:56,840 --> 00:42:59,400
Speaker 3: given the opportunity, I just knew that I just had

840
00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:03,120
Speaker 3: to give everything that I could physically and you know,

841
00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:06,279
Speaker 3: do the simple things well and just help my team

842
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:07,160
Speaker 3: however I could.

843
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:11,040
Speaker 2: But yeah, I think that's that's really.

844
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:13,239
Speaker 3: All you can do is prepare as well as you

845
00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:16,040
Speaker 3: can with the situation that you've been given and then

846
00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:21,200
Speaker 3: just give absolutely everything you possibly can. And yeah, hopefully

847
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:21,840
Speaker 3: that's enough.

848
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:26,839
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I hope. So for both our sakes, I

849
00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:29,200
Speaker 1: want to play an audio clip. I'll get to the

850
00:43:29,239 --> 00:43:31,160
Speaker 1: granny question. I haven't done that yet, but I want

851
00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:36,799
Speaker 1: to play an audio clip from the FIFA World Cup announcement.

852
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:42,880
Speaker 4: I can announce the host country of the FIFA Women's

853
00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:51,600
Speaker 4: World Cup twenty three, which will be Australia New Zealand.

854
00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:55,040
Speaker 1: Congratulations people a while to get that out.

855
00:43:55,280 --> 00:44:00,319
Speaker 3: Oh you're telling me, my gosh, that was actually gave

856
00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:01,040
Speaker 3: me goosebump.

857
00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:02,520
Speaker 2: Still, it's crazy.

858
00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:05,640
Speaker 1: You're a big part of the lead up to that moment.

859
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:08,279
Speaker 1: What did that feel like when it was finally announced.

860
00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:13,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, we were there all day from the morning and

861
00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:17,520
Speaker 3: then we did all this media stuff and then we're

862
00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:19,360
Speaker 3: able to go away and sleep for a few hours,

863
00:44:19,360 --> 00:44:21,759
Speaker 3: and then we we're back at the FFA offices for

864
00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:26,080
Speaker 3: like two am or something like that. Whenever the whole

865
00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:29,000
Speaker 3: process started, and it's like a FIFA board meeting, so

866
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:32,359
Speaker 3: they go through all these different points before they get

867
00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:36,279
Speaker 3: to the announcement. Eventually they get to the announcement and

868
00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:41,600
Speaker 3: hells on for so long about all these different things,

869
00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:43,160
Speaker 3: and you think he's about to make the announcement and

870
00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:45,160
Speaker 3: he doesn't, and then he draws you back in and

871
00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:46,320
Speaker 3: he doesn't.

872
00:44:46,080 --> 00:44:48,239
Speaker 2: And then eventually he finally got there.

873
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:52,400
Speaker 3: And as soon as you heard that, like oh for Australia,

874
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:54,240
Speaker 3: and everyone just went nuts.

875
00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:56,440
Speaker 2: It was it was crazy. It was the closest thing

876
00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:57,320
Speaker 2: that I've ever.

877
00:44:57,120 --> 00:45:02,080
Speaker 3: Come to the feeling of winning a football game or

878
00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:05,480
Speaker 3: just you know, scoring an important goal off the field.

879
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:08,560
Speaker 2: It was the most insane feeling ever, and it was.

880
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:11,080
Speaker 3: Just so exciting, and you know, there were in the

881
00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:13,320
Speaker 3: room with so many people that had put so much

882
00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:16,960
Speaker 3: dedication and time and effort into the bid over so

883
00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:20,600
Speaker 3: many years. So it was just really really nice to

884
00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:22,640
Speaker 3: be there with all those people and know that it

885
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:25,600
Speaker 3: was going to you know, change the landscape for football

886
00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:29,040
Speaker 3: in Australia, So, yeah, a massive moment.

887
00:45:29,239 --> 00:45:31,239
Speaker 1: What do you think it will do? As we talked

888
00:45:31,239 --> 00:45:34,040
Speaker 1: about the visibility thing when we were little kids, what

889
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:36,319
Speaker 1: do you think that's going to do in terms of

890
00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:39,080
Speaker 1: I guess that next generation who will now get to

891
00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:41,600
Speaker 1: grow up and see you guys play on home soil

892
00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:44,320
Speaker 1: and represent your country on the world stage.

893
00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:47,600
Speaker 2: Oh, it's going to change everything. You know.

894
00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:51,319
Speaker 3: They're going to be able to watch not only the

895
00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,640
Speaker 3: Matildas on the world stage on their doorstep, but they'll

896
00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:56,640
Speaker 3: see the best players in the world from all different

897
00:45:56,680 --> 00:46:00,040
Speaker 3: countries and be able to be inspired by all the

898
00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:04,000
Speaker 3: different players from different cultures and be able to relate,

899
00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:08,360
Speaker 3: you know, their backgrounds and their cultures to these players.

900
00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:13,240
Speaker 2: And yeah, it's gonna mean so many different.

901
00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:16,880
Speaker 3: Young girls and boys are inspired by these athletes that

902
00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:20,000
Speaker 3: they'll want to play football, and you know that only

903
00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:23,160
Speaker 3: means great things. But not only you know, women's football

904
00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:27,120
Speaker 3: in Australia, but I think women's sport in general. So yeah,

905
00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:30,000
Speaker 3: I think it's really really exciting and hopefully, you know,

906
00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:32,960
Speaker 3: we can harness the moment and really get the most

907
00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:33,919
Speaker 3: out of it that we can.

908
00:46:34,360 --> 00:46:38,359
Speaker 1: Looking at both Tokyo and twenty twenty three World Cup.

909
00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:41,480
Speaker 1: You guys have had in the past major tournaments, I

910
00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:45,960
Speaker 1: guess a couple of heartbreaks in overtime on penalty shootouts.

911
00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:51,760
Speaker 1: Looking at the quarterfinal in Rio, went down to Brazil,

912
00:46:52,160 --> 00:46:53,840
Speaker 1: one of the best teams in the world, in a

913
00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:57,760
Speaker 1: penalty shootout. And then in the twenty nineteen World Cup,

914
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:02,560
Speaker 1: was it Norway? Yeah, down to Norway. What is that

915
00:47:02,719 --> 00:47:05,680
Speaker 1: the feeling of heartbreak like in those moments and does

916
00:47:05,719 --> 00:47:11,359
Speaker 1: that impact the way you prepare for these upcoming major tournaments.

917
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:15,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's probably The penalties are just the worst, worst

918
00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:19,400
Speaker 3: feeling in the world. There's just so much unknown going

919
00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:22,200
Speaker 3: into them. You know that it's a bit of Sometimes

920
00:47:22,239 --> 00:47:25,480
Speaker 3: it's luck. We you know, we've prepared non stop for

921
00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:29,279
Speaker 3: penalties leading into the World Cup, so you know, we

922
00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:30,880
Speaker 3: trained every day for penalties.

923
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:32,960
Speaker 2: We could physically.

924
00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:35,879
Speaker 3: Take them, and it's you know, in the end, it's

925
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:40,120
Speaker 3: a simple pass or a technique, but it's also you know,

926
00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:43,000
Speaker 3: the pressure and.

927
00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:43,160
Speaker 2: Some of it's a bit of luck.

928
00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:45,640
Speaker 3: You can hit the best penalty ever and the keeper

929
00:47:45,680 --> 00:47:48,440
Speaker 3: guesses the right way and saves it. It's just one

930
00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:53,160
Speaker 3: of those things that you feel like it's not it

931
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:55,160
Speaker 3: is in your control, but it's not, so you're going

932
00:47:55,239 --> 00:47:56,439
Speaker 3: with such unknown.

933
00:47:56,239 --> 00:47:58,920
Speaker 2: So they're just the worst way to end a game.

934
00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:01,960
Speaker 3: And we've obviously been on the wrong end of two

935
00:48:02,040 --> 00:48:05,719
Speaker 3: of those results. And for your all the preparation and

936
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:08,319
Speaker 3: all the build up to that, those games and those

937
00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:11,160
Speaker 3: tournaments to go down like that and for it all

938
00:48:11,239 --> 00:48:14,080
Speaker 3: just to be over from penalties, it's always it's always

939
00:48:14,080 --> 00:48:14,560
Speaker 3: makes it.

940
00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:15,160
Speaker 2: Worse, I think.

941
00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:19,359
Speaker 3: So I think if anything, that definitely lights a bit

942
00:48:19,360 --> 00:48:22,680
Speaker 3: of a fire within us to you know, get further

943
00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:27,200
Speaker 3: and to not get ourselves into that situation. And yeah,

944
00:48:27,719 --> 00:48:30,239
Speaker 3: so hopefully we you know, we've learned from those situations

945
00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:33,279
Speaker 3: and we can get through in regular time in.

946
00:48:33,239 --> 00:48:34,399
Speaker 2: This upcoming year.

947
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:41,160
Speaker 3: No penalties would be nice, but yeah, pretty heartbreaking those moments.

948
00:48:41,640 --> 00:48:46,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, I might play the question from granny Hi, Steth,

949
00:48:47,680 --> 00:48:51,879
Speaker 1: what have you overcome that you are most proud of? Oh?

950
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:54,080
Speaker 2: My gosh, she sounds like an angel.

951
00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:55,239
Speaker 1: She's beautiful.

952
00:48:55,600 --> 00:48:58,319
Speaker 2: Oh. I think you know, my career has had a

953
00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:02,239
Speaker 2: lot of different I've mentioned a few of my setbacks

954
00:49:02,239 --> 00:49:06,760
Speaker 2: that I've had to overcome, but I think the biggest

955
00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:08,839
Speaker 2: thing with my sport has probably.

956
00:49:08,600 --> 00:49:12,360
Speaker 3: Been when I lost my dad he passed away a

957
00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:16,080
Speaker 3: couple of years ago now, and I was playing in

958
00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:18,400
Speaker 3: America at the time and came home and spent a

959
00:49:18,400 --> 00:49:20,840
Speaker 3: bit of time with family, but kind of had to

960
00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:24,120
Speaker 3: make the decision when I felt ready to go back

961
00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:26,960
Speaker 3: and play, and that meant obviously leaving my family and

962
00:49:27,440 --> 00:49:31,759
Speaker 3: kind of just getting on with life. And that was

963
00:49:31,920 --> 00:49:34,600
Speaker 3: a moment that I struggled with, and it took me

964
00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:38,840
Speaker 3: a long time to feel like football meant something to

965
00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:42,680
Speaker 3: me again and that it was important and that I

966
00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:43,240
Speaker 3: could get.

967
00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:44,560
Speaker 2: My head around it in that sense.

968
00:49:45,320 --> 00:49:48,560
Speaker 3: And I think the way that I handled that and

969
00:49:48,640 --> 00:49:51,760
Speaker 3: lent on people and was more vulnerable than I usually

970
00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:57,160
Speaker 3: am probably got me through that moment and got me

971
00:49:57,200 --> 00:49:59,400
Speaker 3: back to the point where you know, I was happy

972
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:02,600
Speaker 3: in football again and able to see to something that

973
00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:07,319
Speaker 3: would help me. And yeah, that was probably the thing

974
00:50:07,360 --> 00:50:09,840
Speaker 3: that I'm I mean, it's something it's something that you

975
00:50:09,880 --> 00:50:12,400
Speaker 3: don't really ever get over, and you know, grief is

976
00:50:12,440 --> 00:50:15,520
Speaker 3: different for everyone, but in terms of relating it to

977
00:50:15,560 --> 00:50:18,680
Speaker 3: my football and being able to find my passion for

978
00:50:18,719 --> 00:50:20,640
Speaker 3: that again and love it again, I think that was

979
00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:23,200
Speaker 3: something I'm proud of that I got through it and

980
00:50:23,360 --> 00:50:24,000
Speaker 3: was able.

981
00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:27,560
Speaker 2: To continue what I love doing and yeah, find that again.

982
00:50:28,080 --> 00:50:30,200
Speaker 1: That must have been really hard. Then having to go

983
00:50:30,320 --> 00:50:33,880
Speaker 1: back over to America and be away from your family

984
00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:35,520
Speaker 1: during that process too.

985
00:50:36,200 --> 00:50:37,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that was really difficult.

986
00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:40,840
Speaker 3: I was lucky to have a really supportive coach and

987
00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:43,960
Speaker 3: a really supportive team in America, and they were very

988
00:50:45,480 --> 00:50:47,880
Speaker 3: They were very good and not in not trying to

989
00:50:47,920 --> 00:50:51,000
Speaker 3: get me back earlier. Obviously I was paying me and

990
00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:55,160
Speaker 3: they were in the middle of a season and whatnot,

991
00:50:55,160 --> 00:50:57,400
Speaker 3: But they didn't bother me at all. They didn't rush me,

992
00:50:58,600 --> 00:51:01,160
Speaker 3: and I think that helped and my decision making on

993
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:04,239
Speaker 3: when to go and when was the right time to go.

994
00:51:04,360 --> 00:51:07,719
Speaker 3: And I probably went a bit early because I did

995
00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:09,719
Speaker 3: struggle when I first got back. As soon as I

996
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,240
Speaker 3: got to America, I just wanted to get home again.

997
00:51:12,680 --> 00:51:14,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, but yeah, that.

998
00:51:14,040 --> 00:51:17,960
Speaker 3: Was something that I obviously had to overcome and eventually

999
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:22,960
Speaker 3: got there and definitely feel stronger for the experience and

1000
00:51:23,719 --> 00:51:25,920
Speaker 3: whatnot getting through that.

1001
00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:30,919
Speaker 1: Yeah. Wow, Yeah, your strength is quite amazing. It's yeah,

1002
00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:32,040
Speaker 1: really inspiring.

1003
00:51:32,360 --> 00:51:32,799
Speaker 2: Thank you.

1004
00:51:33,040 --> 00:51:37,800
Speaker 1: I finish every show with three would you rather questions

1005
00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:41,959
Speaker 1: Number one. In the final of a World Cup, would

1006
00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:45,640
Speaker 1: you rather take the final kick in a penalty shootout

1007
00:51:45,719 --> 00:51:47,799
Speaker 1: or stand and watch one of your teammates kick it.

1008
00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:56,279
Speaker 2: Oh god, Oh, it's terrible. I would rather Oh that's so,

1009
00:51:56,440 --> 00:52:02,719
Speaker 2: that's so hard. I think I don't know. I think

1010
00:52:02,719 --> 00:52:04,600
Speaker 2: I would rather watch someone else do it.

1011
00:52:05,080 --> 00:52:05,480
Speaker 1: Okay.

1012
00:52:05,600 --> 00:52:08,840
Speaker 3: I don't mind taking penalties, but I usually go somewhere

1013
00:52:08,880 --> 00:52:11,400
Speaker 3: in the middle. I don't like taking the last one.

1014
00:52:11,760 --> 00:52:14,040
Speaker 3: I'd usually say the first or somewhere in the middle.

1015
00:52:14,480 --> 00:52:17,440
Speaker 3: So the last one I would I would probably prefer

1016
00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:20,920
Speaker 3: one of our strikers or someone who's you know, he

1017
00:52:21,040 --> 00:52:23,319
Speaker 3: knows a little bit arrogant with it and just we'll

1018
00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:25,200
Speaker 3: just be okay, so someone else.

1019
00:52:26,160 --> 00:52:29,880
Speaker 1: Number two. Would you rather win a premiership with Arsenal

1020
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:33,200
Speaker 1: or be at the mcg to see the Saints win

1021
00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:37,640
Speaker 1: their second ever flag in the first since nineteen sixty six.

1022
00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:39,480
Speaker 2: That's awful.

1023
00:52:40,360 --> 00:52:45,280
Speaker 3: Oh god, oh my god, Oh my gosh, this is bad.

1024
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:48,440
Speaker 2: This is a stitch up. It looks so stressed.

1025
00:52:48,719 --> 00:52:51,120
Speaker 1: My research team has done well, is so well.

1026
00:52:51,239 --> 00:52:52,160
Speaker 2: That's really tough.

1027
00:52:52,840 --> 00:52:58,320
Speaker 3: Oh my god, I would like both of them. Oh god,

1028
00:52:58,520 --> 00:53:00,560
Speaker 3: seeing since you to win a premiership, it's been like

1029
00:53:00,600 --> 00:53:05,280
Speaker 3: a lifelong dream. Okay, if this gets played in England,

1030
00:53:05,280 --> 00:53:07,399
Speaker 3: it might get killed for it, but oh my god,

1031
00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:09,840
Speaker 3: I just need to before I die. I need to

1032
00:53:09,880 --> 00:53:11,120
Speaker 3: see I need to see that.

1033
00:53:11,160 --> 00:53:13,719
Speaker 1: Okay, so we're going to go for that lifelong dream.

1034
00:53:14,320 --> 00:53:14,960
Speaker 2: That's bad.

1035
00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:20,759
Speaker 1: Rest in peace over there in England. Number three. Would

1036
00:53:20,800 --> 00:53:23,920
Speaker 1: you rather have a rewind button or a pause button

1037
00:53:24,280 --> 00:53:26,560
Speaker 1: on your life? Like Adam Sandler and click?

1038
00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:30,080
Speaker 2: Oh? What would I do with a pause button?

1039
00:53:30,840 --> 00:53:34,520
Speaker 3: Just so everything stays the same for a while. I

1040
00:53:34,560 --> 00:53:36,080
Speaker 3: don't think I would want to go back.

1041
00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:40,960
Speaker 2: Yeah.

1042
00:53:40,960 --> 00:53:44,400
Speaker 3: Maybe if I could go back and like relive certain moments,

1043
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:47,520
Speaker 3: I would do that, But I wouldn't change anything.

1044
00:53:47,560 --> 00:53:48,120
Speaker 2: I don't think.

1045
00:53:48,560 --> 00:53:51,880
Speaker 1: Nice. I like that. Thank you so much for coming

1046
00:53:51,920 --> 00:53:54,200
Speaker 1: on for a chat today. I've really enjoyed chatting too,

1047
00:53:54,239 --> 00:53:57,520
Speaker 1: and I think it's, yeah, pretty mind blowing. Everything that

1048
00:53:57,560 --> 00:53:59,719
Speaker 1: you've been through in the way that you've I guess

1049
00:54:00,320 --> 00:54:02,319
Speaker 1: and grown as a player and a person. I think

1050
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:05,799
Speaker 1: it's really inspiring. And I'm really excited for all the

1051
00:54:05,840 --> 00:54:08,600
Speaker 1: things that you're ticking off in your rehab at the moment. Yeah,

1052
00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:11,200
Speaker 1: really excited to hopefully well might not see you over

1053
00:54:11,239 --> 00:54:13,600
Speaker 1: in Tokyo, but hopefully watch you over there. It would

1054
00:54:13,600 --> 00:54:14,200
Speaker 1: be really cool.

1055
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:16,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, awesome, Thank you for having me.

1056
00:54:16,200 --> 00:54:19,040
Speaker 3: I've enjoyed this chat too, and hopefully see you in

1057
00:54:19,080 --> 00:54:20,720
Speaker 3: Tokyo winin some gold medals.

1058
00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:22,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, I hope so.

1059
00:54:22,520 --> 00:54:24,560
Speaker 1: Oh and before we go, where can people find you

1060
00:54:24,640 --> 00:54:25,920
Speaker 1: on instagram? Hui?

1061
00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:29,640
Speaker 2: My instagram is just Steph Catley, plain and simple.

1062
00:54:29,960 --> 00:54:31,520
Speaker 1: Awesome. Thank you so much for.

1063
00:54:31,480 --> 00:54:32,520
Speaker 2: That, Thank you so much.

1064
00:54:32,600 --> 00:54:37,640
Speaker 1: That was fun, Thanks so much for listening. That concludes

1065
00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:41,840
Speaker 1: our very first ever season of The Female Athlete Project podcast.

1066
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:44,719
Speaker 1: We've got some really exciting things lined up for season two.

1067
00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:47,040
Speaker 1: We've got some big names in the works. We've been

1068
00:54:47,120 --> 00:54:49,120
Speaker 1: sitting down and planning with my team some really cool

1069
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:50,879
Speaker 1: things that we've got coming your way. So make sure

1070
00:54:51,320 --> 00:54:54,200
Speaker 1: you keep up to date on our instagram at the

1071
00:54:54,239 --> 00:54:57,520
Speaker 1: Female Athlete Project. And once again, thanks to my incredible

1072
00:54:57,560 --> 00:55:01,560
Speaker 1: team Bailey, Millie Bears, and Georgia. I couldn't do it

1073
00:55:01,600 --> 00:55:02,280
Speaker 1: without you, guys.