One of the things I’ve realised after playing ten years in the W-League is that football is part of my soul.

It’s given me the highest highs and the lowest lows and everything in between and it’s still by my side no matter what. I’m going to ride the wave as far as I can.

I’ve got my teaching career and that will be there forever. But with football I know I can’t play forever so I just want to cherish it as long as I can.

Me and my twin sister Susy started playing soccer when we were six-years-old. I went on with it, but Susy really wasn’t interested. I naturally took to football for some reason. I’d get in there amongst it while she would prance around and wave at dad.

Starting very young was huge. It helped that I was also playing with my older brother. We were just both obsessed with football. At home we’d be at the backyard playing one on one’s and it was just not stop. I’d get home from games and still get the ball and kick it against the brick wall. I was just so obsessed it was something I loved to do.

The Dawn of the W-League

I made my debut at 17 for Central Coast. It was the first season of the W-League and at the time it felt like the dawn of women's football in this country. It’s the tenth season of the W-League now and it’s crazy. I ask myself where has all that time gone?  When the W-League started a lot of the Sydney born players had no choice which team they could join and that is when I stared with Central Coast Mariners for first two seasons.

Photo credit: Steve Dimitriadis

But I’m  a Sydney girl and even though I was with the Mariners I didn’t care. I just wanted to be part of this new exciting journey. And it’s what we needed as a country. I was really happy to be part of the W-League when it started. I wanted to take my chances and be part of it long term-which I am lucky enough to have done that.

Playing for Sydney FC

It's big club to be  a part of, we are a very successful club all round,  it’s a huge honour to be part of Sydney FC, it’s my home club. It’s a club I followed from the beginning. Who doesn’t want to play for a quality side? It’s a huge honour. 

Looking back over the last ten years of my career what I remember the most are the derbies and the grand finals. I have been lucky enough to be a part of three grand-finals and I am happy to have won one. It’s the big games that area really huge for me.

The season Sydney FC won the Grand Final in 2012-13 was a bit of roller coaster. That year we had a really young team like really young. We had players like Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord we had incredible young players and when you have a young team there are inconsistencies so we had an inconsistent season, so it all came down to the last few rounds and one of those games was against the Wanderers and we had to win that game and we scraped into the semi’s in fourth place and we hit our straps.

I’ve been lucky enough to play with some great players at Sydney. I pinch myself sometimes, they are incredible players and legends to me and they are good people as well. Every season that has gone we’ve had a great squad and there is no reason why we shouldn’t be up there again this campaign.

Being Captain

Photo Credit: Steve Dimitriadis

Obviously I love being the leader of this team, I love this club it’s a huge part of my heart. Sydney FC is my home club and I’ve followed it from its beginning so it’s really special to lead the team.

I’m not the most outspoken leader. I try and lead the team by example. I am lucky enough to have incredible players around me that help me help to lead. We are a team of leaders. I represent the arm band out but I also represent all of us.

Playing for the Matildas

My Matildas debut is a funny one. In 2007 I was in the Young Matildas team and we were sent over to Asia to play a senior Olympic qualifier. The Matilda’s were out of contention at that time so the Young Matildas were preparing for their own World Cup qualifiers, so they sent us instead.

My fisrt game for Australia was against Hong Kong and we won 8-1. I was only 17 when I made my debut and obviously there was a huge gap till my next cap. But I was still very proud and all the team were proud because it counted as our first senior cap.

It was around 2013 when I entered the Matildas squad as a fringe player and then I went away to the Asian Cup where we were runners up.

If I look at all my long term terms goals as a kid one thing I wanted to do was play for the Matildas and go to a World Cup and I did that when I went to 2015 World Cup in Canada.

Even though I didn’t get out on the field it was still amazing to be there and it was a fantastic experience. You are living and breathing what you love - football and you are seeing the best players in the world compete.

The recent inroads

The sleeping giant of women’s football is awakening and rightly so. The current Matilda team they have experience now and that is helping them get to the next level. The potential of this game not just in Australia but globally is huge.

With Sam Kerr we have the world’s best player – the sky is the limit for our country- we are seeing it all come together now. It’s a good start but we need to keep it going and I think it will.

My first goal in 10 years

The goal that I scored for Sydney FC last week is 10 years in the making and long overdue. I don’t really remember anything afterwards. I do remember  teh lead up, being in the middle of the pitch I combined with Cloe Logarzo, somehow the ball popped back out from her. It had a beautiful role on it and I had a dig and it went in top left corner. The rest that happened after that is history I don’t remember.

I’ve had some opportunities over the years I’ve hit some posts. I’m a defensive midfielder and it’s not the top of my priority list. Over the last year or so I’ve been getting a lot of stick from people asking me when I’m going to score. So, I got the monkey off the back so you never know maybe the flood gates will open now. 

As told to Con Stamocostas