Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / Olympic Preview: Australia with Samantha Lewis

Transcript

Olympic Preview: Australia with Samantha Lewis · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:04
OK, welcome to Into the Channel podcast, primarily about women's
0:08
football. Before we hit the pitch, if you
0:09
enjoy the show or love women's football as much as your boys
0:12
do, as much as we all do, I'll say come kick it with us
0:15
already. We are doing this every single
0:17
week spanning the wide world of women's football.
0:19
We're spanning pretty wide this week.
0:20
I mean, I don't think we can get I think this is maximum span
0:24
that we've got going on this week.
0:25
So we're very excited. Subscribe, follow YouTube,
0:27
Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever you like to watch or listen at
0:29
ITC under score pod on X all of our socials in the show notes of
0:33
this episode. I'm your host, Dino de Cespedes.
0:35
And as always, I am joined by my Co host, Mr. Grant Angle.
0:38
What is up man? I'm feeling fantastic, buddy,
0:41
and I'm feeling fantastic in part because I have the distinct
0:44
pleasure of introducing our guest for today's show.
0:46
Our guest is a digital sports journalist, a writer, a
0:49
podcaster and a mentor to young people in Australia.
0:52
She is a pioneer in the women's football media space.
0:55
She started covering MacArthur Rams football club matches at
0:58
Linwood Park from my calculations roughly 40 ish
1:01
kilometers outside of Sydney before there is any media
1:03
coverage for that club and then followed the Matildas to France
1:06
for the 2019 World Cup to cover the squad for her blog A view
1:09
from the cheap seats. Now their work can be found at
1:12
the Australian broadcasting company in the Guardian, ESPN,
1:16
Optus Sports. She's also the Co host of the
1:18
Far Post podcast available where you can download your podcasts
1:21
and it is a great to welcome to the show Samantha Lewis.
1:25
Hi fellas, thank you so much for having me.
1:27
My God, you've done your research, huh?
1:29
I'm really. Impressed.
1:29
Trying. We do what we can over here.
1:33
And we're a part time journalistic enterprise
1:35
ourselves, so you know. That's how it starts.
1:37
That's how women's football journalism starts.
1:40
Let's go. I mean, we definitely, we
1:42
definitely caught the bug for short.
1:43
Well, Samantha, welcome to the show.
1:44
Like Grant said, we're super excited to have you.
1:46
We want to talk Australia, the team, the prospects, what the
1:51
expectations are going to Olympics.
1:53
It's really creeping up here. We're just a few weeks out,
1:56
starting to get really excited. Most of the countries have
1:58
announced their squads, so I just want to kind of get right
2:00
into it. 12th ranked team according to FIFA, this is a
2:03
team coming off a third place finish 2023 World Cup.
2:07
I'm sorry, this team coming off a fourth place finish 2023 World
2:10
Cup. What are the vibes like?
2:12
You're on the ground. What are the conversations like
2:15
with regard to how people are talking about this team, what
2:17
they're expecting of this team? People in Australia are obsessed
2:20
with the Matildas. The Women's World Cup last year
2:23
was a complete game changer here.
2:27
I know so many people who had never watched women's soccer
2:31
before who are now fanatic fans of this team.
2:34
They buy the merchandise. One of them has got a tattoo.
2:37
Like there's a whole wave of new fans who have come to this team
2:41
because of the last, particularly the last 12 to 18
2:44
months. And it's a really exciting time,
2:46
I think to to be getting around the Matildas, you know, as you
2:48
said, they finished fourth at at the the home World Cup, which
2:51
was an amazing achievement. It's the furthest that a host
2:55
nation has ever gone before in the tournament, aside from the
2:58
USA. And to have done it at a sort of
3:01
a turning point globally for women's sport was just perfect.
3:05
Like it was exactly the timing that they needed to go on that
3:07
kind of run. And so I think because of that
3:10
and speak because of their also their 4th place finished at the
3:13
Tokyo Olympics back in 2021, there's a real sense of optimism
3:17
around this generation of Matildas that they can actually
3:21
be the first Australian side to win a medal at the the football
3:25
tournament of an Olympic Games because they've come so close in
3:28
the last two major global tournaments that they've
3:31
competed in. So at the moment, the vibes from
3:33
the general public are really positive.
3:36
There are lots of people who are really hoping and sort of
3:40
expecting Australia to go quite deep in this tournament.
3:44
But I have to qualify that by saying that those of us who have
3:49
been covering the Matildas for a long time and who pay much
3:52
closer attention to the global women's game are a little bit
3:56
more reserved in what our expectations are of this squad,
4:01
particularly in the absence of Sam Kerr.
4:04
Because when we look back at the last Olympic Games, Sam Kerr was
4:07
absolutely crucial to Australia getting as far as they did.
4:11
She scored majority of the teams goals, she was the large reason
4:15
that they got through those knockout games in the 1st place
4:18
and we haven't been able to find a proper replacement for her.
4:21
We've got Michelle Heyman, who has been a a sort of veteran
4:24
striker who's been recalled to the team in the absence of a
4:27
more natural #9 but we don't have a lot of depth in that
4:31
position. And my worry that I am now
4:36
really starting to reckon with is that we are not going to be
4:40
able to substantially fill that hole.
4:43
You know, we've had a couple of players who have stepped up in
4:46
the last 12 months in particular.
4:48
You know, during the Women's World Cup, for example, when
4:50
Kerr was out with that calf injury, we had Caitlin Ford
4:53
really come to the fore and and pull Australia through a lot of
4:57
those moments. We had Mary Fowler coming in, we
4:59
had Hayley Rasso stepping up. So we did have a couple of
5:02
players who were able to improvise and and sort of fill
5:06
fill the gap when it was required.
5:07
So we kind of know what the Matildas look like without Sam
5:10
Kerr. But I think now the issue is
5:12
that other countries also know what we look like without Sam
5:16
Kerr, and they've had much more time to prepare for what we are
5:20
going to be without her. So that's a very rambly answer.
5:23
But based on all of that, yeah, I think the the expectations are
5:26
mixed back here for how far the Matildas can go.
5:30
And, you know, this is going to be the the last time that I
5:34
think some of these key players make an appearance at an Olympic
5:38
game. Some of them have already
5:39
flagged that they're going to be retiring.
5:40
So there's a lot on the line. There's a lot at stake for for
5:44
some of these folks. And I think the hope, as it
5:46
always is with the Matildas, the hope far exceeds, I think the
5:50
reality maybe of what they're capable of doing.
5:53
So if we had to put a place on it, if you think about these
5:56
expectations and of course understanding there is a range,
6:00
if you had to put on full punditry hat and say what is
6:04
this team's ceiling, what do you think that is?
6:07
Right now, this generation of Matildas, I think the ceiling is
6:12
a bronze medal. If they they were to be able to
6:14
get a silver or a gold medal, a second or a first place in any
6:18
major tournament, it would be extraordinary.
6:20
But I think what they've demonstrated in the past couple
6:23
of years is that on their day they really are capable of
6:26
beating some of the best teams in the world.
6:28
But whether they're capable of being the best team in the world
6:32
is a separate question. And I don't think that they are
6:35
quite ready to be that yet. I think they still lack the
6:38
depth. I think they still lack the big
6:41
tournament experience, if you can say that, in order to be
6:44
consistently successful in the way that a Spain or an England
6:49
or a Germany or a USA have been successful.
6:53
So coming into the Paris Olympics, you know, I think a
6:56
lot of people are expecting that the Matildas at least reach the
7:00
knockout stages, that they at least get through their group
7:04
and perhaps a path for the course will be getting to the
7:08
final four based on their their past results.
7:11
But given the circumstances of their group, and given that this
7:16
is just a 12 team tournament with some of the best teams in
7:19
the whole world and we are ranked twelve, you know, it's
7:22
it's in that context it will be surprising if we actually get as
7:26
far as that. Makes a lot of sense.
7:28
I want to rewind just for a moment back to the 23 World Cup,
7:31
because obviously Sam Kerr sort of loomed over most of it.
7:35
And then she she does make a dramatic entrance, I think much
7:38
later in the tournament scored an absolute banger.
7:40
Maybe we'll talk about that later.
7:41
We'll see if we have a little time for it.
7:42
But with regard to this team, who would you say is the player
7:47
that kind of holds, holds the key in their hand?
7:49
Who's The X Factor? That's a great question.
7:52
I think The X Factor is going to be Caitlin Ford.
7:57
Caitlin Ford has been so important for Australia in the
8:02
last two years and you know, her move to Arsenal really was sort
8:06
of the saving grace for the Matildas in a lot of ways
8:09
because she has come such a long way in her individual
8:13
development, in her technical skills, in her speed, in her
8:16
decision making. Even now you watch her come up
8:19
against defenders and she plays with such swagger and such
8:22
confidence that she really didn't used to have back in the
8:25
day and defenders still can't really figure her out.
8:28
She's just too quick and she knows exactly what she wants to
8:31
do all the time. So I think her as an individual,
8:36
as we saw during the Woman's World Cup, she can create such a
8:39
difference in a moment. She is a big moment kind of
8:43
player. She knows what to do in a
8:44
moment. And I think the other really
8:46
important thing about Caitlin Ford that maybe a lot of new
8:49
fans don't know is she's actually very versatile.
8:52
When she first started in the Matildas, she was a 15 year old
8:55
right back and she was able to keep Marta from Brazil in her
8:59
pocket during I think it was the Olympic Games or maybe the
9:01
Women's World Cup, I can't remember which one.
9:03
But she was terrific as a young defender back then.
9:06
Since she was sort of moved into a centre forward position, she's
9:09
been moved on to the wing. Her and Sam Kerr, who'd been
9:12
playing together for a very, very long time, often would
9:15
switch in and out of each other's positions, both for club
9:17
and for country. So she's capable of playing all
9:20
along the front three as well as dropping in a little bit deeper
9:22
as well. And in an Olympic tournament
9:24
which has just an 18 player roster, you got back-to-back
9:28
games in a really tight window. Having players who are both
9:32
technically excellent and very, very good at their specific
9:35
position, but also are very good at other people's positions is a
9:39
real gem of a player to have. So yeah, I think Caitlin Ford
9:43
will be really crucial for the Matilda's chances, not just in
9:47
scoring goals, but also in trying to sort of manage games
9:50
and and see them through to the very end.
9:52
Because it could just be one goal that sees us dumped out of
9:56
the group stage compared to getting through to the knockouts
9:59
as what happened in Tokyo. Or I think maybe it was it was
10:02
Rio where the Matilda's only got through based on a plus one goal
10:05
difference. So it really can come down to
10:07
something as simple as that. And I think Caitlin Ford will be
10:10
crucial. Makes a lot of sense, Dino and I
10:13
have talked a lot about it with the US women's national team
10:15
roster especially. And I I just totally agree with
10:19
you. When you only have 18 players on
10:20
that roster, versatility has to come into play when the manager
10:24
is selecting those players. And for anybody who's
10:27
interested, I mentioned the Far Post podcast Sam and her
10:30
colleagues talked about that on. I believe that podcast is titled
10:34
Tilly's in Paris. That episode of the Far of the
10:36
Far Post I used my context clues to determine.
10:40
I think Tilly's is that short for Matilda's.
10:43
Sure. Is OK nailed it.
10:45
So yeah, go everybody go listen to that podcast.
10:47
It was very informative. So I want to ask, I want to kind
10:49
of follow up on what Dino's saying there.
10:52
We talked about that versatility.
10:53
Do you guys have a lot of like good young talent on this team?
10:58
Is there potential for a breakout star in these Olympic
11:00
Games for the Australian side? Yeah, we do have a couple of
11:04
really impressive young players, but the annoying thing is that
11:08
they're kind of stars already. You know, if you'd asked me this
11:11
question maybe 18 months ago, I would have said Mary Fowler.
11:14
I think that she would absolutely be the breakout * but
11:17
she beat me to the punch with the World Cup and, and, and
11:20
really put her name up in lights.
11:22
And obviously she's kicked on with Manchester City as well.
11:24
And, and, and has become a a really key cog in that machine.
11:28
So Mary Fowler, I mean, I think that she still has so much room
11:33
to grow as fantastic as she already is.
11:36
Yeah. She's only, what, 20 years old?
11:39
And she's playing like she's been playing at this level for a
11:42
decade. She's also someone who I think
11:44
is really valuable for the Matildas and is a potential game
11:47
changer along with Caitlin Ford. But what's really curious at the
11:51
moment about Mary Fowler's position in the Matildas is that
11:55
Tony Gustavson, the head coach, hasn't quite found the best
11:58
position to play her in because she's sort of too good at
12:01
everything. She can be everywhere.
12:04
And what we've seen, particularly over the past sort
12:07
of six to eight months after the Women's World Cup, is that while
12:10
Mary had been played largely kind of as a central attacking
12:13
midfielder during the tournament, recently she's been
12:16
moved a little bit further out wide on the left and sort of
12:19
played as a like a, an in swinging kind of winger.
12:22
Sometimes she moves to the right side of the field.
12:24
She's kind of just got this this really random roaming freedom to
12:28
be able to do what she wants. And of course, you would
12:30
encourage that for a player as creative and as technically
12:32
gifted as Mary. But at the same time, the
12:35
consequence of that is that you can never really quite find her
12:38
best spot because she's she's kind of doing everything.
12:41
And therefore it's really difficult, I think, to build a
12:44
team around her because she can be everywhere all the time.
12:48
So how do you build a consistent structure and consistent
12:51
chemistry with particular teammates when you're here,
12:54
there and everywhere? And we haven't really seen, I
12:57
think, by virtue of that, the best of Mary Fowler so far.
13:00
So I'm going to be really interested to watch what
13:02
Gustafson does with Fowler during the Olympics because she
13:06
is so pivotal to the way that the Matildas play.
13:09
And yet she's one of those players who when she doesn't
13:13
have a great game, she really goes missing completely, where
13:17
there are some players who are great, but if they have a bad
13:19
game, they still do something. But Mary Fowler can really go
13:21
missing sometimes. And I think that's what perhaps
13:24
she needs to work on a bit more as a player is ensuring that she
13:28
has an impact in every game that she's in, even if it's not her
13:31
best game, that she still manages to do something.
13:34
So Fowler would be my hypothetical breakout star if
13:37
she wasn't already a superstar, same as Kara Cooney Cross, you
13:40
know, another fantastic player who had a really great Women's
13:44
World Cup and has signed for Arsenal.
13:45
She's not really getting that much game time over there, but I
13:48
think a lot of people still realize her qualities.
13:50
Yeah, I mean that those are kind of the two players that I can I
13:53
can really pick because of the limited squad size.
13:56
Sadly we had a couple of young players who were chosen as the
13:59
substitutes or the reserve players instead of the in the
14:01
final, the 18 player squad. But if anyone from from the IOC
14:06
is listening to this, please expand the squad to 23 so I can
14:09
talk more about young players. For sure, and just for player
14:12
health and safety too. I think 23 seems like a more
14:15
reasonable number. Absolutely, Absolutely.
14:18
Yeah. If there are any major knee
14:19
injuries that happened during this Olympic Games, I think the
14:22
entire women's soccer community globally is going to be sending
14:25
some very angry emails and tweets to the IOC.
14:28
I'd imagine. Wow, yeah, not something I'd I'd
14:31
considered, but yeah, that's definitely happening.
14:33
So let's hope for that to not happen.
14:35
Hopefully. Fingers crossed all.
14:37
The wood in my. House, absolutely.
14:39
I'll do the same over here in Orlando.
14:42
Quick question about the World Cup again because I just found
14:45
it fascinating. Obviously, you know, Matilda's,
14:47
they're playing at home. What I thought was extremely
14:49
interesting was a lot of different types of results.
14:52
France, it's a nil, nil. They go to PK's, they blow
14:55
Canada out in the last group stage match, they sort of
14:58
squeaked by Ireland and the opener where there was a lot of
15:01
tension, like a lot of energy in the building that you can feel
15:04
handled their business at. Then you know, like they there
15:05
was a lot of different variants with regard to the style of
15:09
play, the formula, the recipe or the Matildas a squad that maybe
15:14
kind of have every identity and like also no identity or style
15:18
wise. What are you expecting here?
15:20
The style question is a really big one, isn't it?
15:22
Because the Matildas have kind of ebbed and flowed in terms of
15:27
their styles and their systems over the years, and it's really
15:30
dependent on the squad and the players that are at the disposal
15:33
of the coach at the time. And the interesting thing about
15:36
when Tony Gustafson came in is that one of the things that he
15:39
really wanted to understand was kind of the spirit over the
15:43
Matildas and how they saw themselves.
15:45
And one of the things that has made the Matildas what they are
15:49
sort of culturally is this never say die quote, UN quote attitude
15:54
such that it was literally stitched into the jerseys that
15:57
they wore for the 2019 Woman's World Cup.
16:01
So that's kind of become their their sort of a spiritual motto,
16:04
I suppose you could say. And this could be a good thing
16:07
or a bad thing, but that's kind of how they play too.
16:10
You know, the anxiety inducing thing about being a Matilda's
16:12
fan is that they are just as likely to barrel their way to a
16:17
fourth placed finish as they are to tumble out of a group stage.
16:20
Those two possibilities are equally likely by playing the
16:24
same football because they are a very on the edge kind of
16:30
rock'n'roll, high energy risk taking side.
16:34
And they have had in the past the players to be able to
16:38
justify that and to make it kind of look like it's part of the
16:41
plan. And Sam Kerr I think in
16:43
particular has been really crucial to that because she has
16:46
such sort of supernatural abilities that she's been able
16:49
to to create something from nothing or something from half
16:53
nothings. And that's where her absence
16:55
sort of starts to become a bit more intriguing, is that can the
16:58
Matildas still play in this kind of stuff file where they can
17:04
sacrifice so much and and and risk so much, but have
17:08
absolutely zero reward for it and potentially even suffer the
17:11
consequences of that by leaving themselves to open to the
17:14
opposition if they don't have someone as good as Sam Kerr
17:17
who's there and able to tie a neat little bow around all of
17:20
those chances. So, yeah, so it's a it's a
17:22
really curious one. And, and Gustafsson over his
17:25
sort of four year tenure has shape shifted somewhat in the
17:30
the system and and style that the Matildas have been playing.
17:33
Partly that's due to the different opponents that they
17:36
have come up against. You know, coming up against an
17:39
Asian opponent who tends to park the bus and sit and defend
17:42
really deep requires a different kind of football from the
17:45
Matildas than say a France or a USA who are much more
17:49
aggressive, much more attacking and are going to have probably
17:52
much more of the ball than what Australia will.
17:54
But the great thing and the thing that I am really grateful
17:57
for about Goose Descent is that he has come in and he has
18:00
actually allowed the players themselves to learn to do all
18:05
these different things. Whereas historically they really
18:07
have kind of been a one track team.
18:09
A lot of it has been sort of direct long balls to whoever is
18:13
upfront and hoping that they're fast and strong and good enough
18:16
to be able to score goals. Whereas they've come up against
18:19
tactically more sophisticated sides or sides that have really
18:22
challenged them in fundamental ways and they haven't been able
18:24
to find the answers to that. Whereas in the last,
18:27
particularly in the last two years, I think the Matildas have
18:30
really evolved in that sense. And so they can play a number of
18:33
different systems against a number of different kinds of
18:36
opponents. They can play, as we saw against
18:38
Denmark during the World Cup, counter attacking football.
18:40
They can play possession football that they played
18:42
against Canada. They can do lots of different
18:45
things now and they're equally confident and equally capable of
18:48
of doing all of that. So while yes, that does mean
18:51
that maybe they don't have a sort of consistent style in the
18:55
way that you would say AUSA does or Spain does, they are more
18:59
multifaceted in the way that they play their football now.
19:02
And I think in the global game, considering how many different
19:06
systems and styles there are, I personally would prefer A-Team
19:10
who is able to do all of it as opposed to a team who is just
19:13
very good at one of those things.
19:15
Yeah, that's a great way to put it.
19:16
I think that is also the mark of a good manager to say, hey, you
19:20
guys can be yourselves. I want you to express yourselves
19:23
out there on the pitch, but also let's pick and choose the way
19:27
we're doing that in these different scenarios.
19:29
And if you're, if you're not quite as deep as a team like
19:32
Spain or France, having that ability to kind of adjust your
19:35
style of play is a benefit when you might be a little outgunned
19:39
talent wise. But to think about a player on
19:42
the Tillys, which I'd like to start using, if I may, a player
19:47
on the Tillys who does not ever look outgunned out there.
19:51
Dino and I covered the Women's Champions League.
19:53
It was like our it was really the genesis of us starting this
19:56
podcast, how closely we were watching it.
19:58
I wrote in my notes several times.
20:00
And now I finally have a journalist from Australia to ask
20:03
this very serious question. Is Ellie Carpenter the fastest
20:07
person in the world? I would like to say yes, she
20:15
certainly looks like she's the fastest person in the world when
20:18
she runs because she has that extraordinary like white hot
20:22
hair blazing out behind her right.
20:26
And she looks like she could run through walls if you put one in
20:28
front of her because her momentum just takes her through
20:31
another Galaxy. But when it comes to actual
20:33
speed on the Matildas, I I have no data to back this up, but
20:37
just based on the eye test, I would have to say that either
20:41
Haley Rasso or Courtney Vine are probably faster than Ellie
20:45
Carpenter in from a sort of a standing start and and a, and a
20:49
quick like 100 meter Sprint. I mean, I would love to line all
20:52
three of them up and really test this, but I think the Matilda's
20:55
staff might kill me. So I'm probably not going to do
20:57
that. But I, yeah, I mean, I would say
20:59
that those three players in particular are the fastest
21:02
players, not necessarily just in the Matilda's, but potentially
21:05
even in world football. And what I kind of love is that
21:08
all three of them play on the same side of the field when
21:11
they're out there as well. You've got Ureli Carpenter and
21:14
Hayley Rasso who are usually interchanging on the right.
21:16
And then you've got basically a like for like substitution with
21:19
Hayley Rasso and Courtney Vine coming on, as well as that
21:22
really quick winger who can get in behind.
21:24
And that's another great, back to the earlier point about the
21:27
style of the Matilda's, I think that's another really important
21:30
element of that is speed. And that's something that
21:32
Gustafson has really hammered home with the players as well,
21:35
is speed. Not just physically speed, but
21:38
speed of decision making and how quickly we can adjust ourselves
21:42
as a unit on the field to be able to solve tactical problems.
21:46
And that's something that the Matildas have really, really
21:49
evolved in over the last couple of years, which has been
21:51
fabulous to see. And it's really nice as well
21:53
seeing that speedy players can still be valuable.
21:56
You know, we had sort of a period where we're like, well,
21:58
no, no, no, it's not just about being fast anymore.
22:00
It's about tactics. It's about being slow and
22:02
methodical and smart about football.
22:05
It's like, no, you could still be fast and smart at football
22:07
and that actually makes you even better.
22:09
So let's just let's leave a bit more room for the speedy gals,
22:12
all right? Yeah, and, and there's
22:14
definitely a lot of speed on that roster.
22:17
We've talked about the stacked field.
22:18
The Matilda's group, specifically Australia, shares a
22:21
group with the USA, Germany and Zambia who's not to be slept on
22:26
either. Are there any areas where the
22:30
Matildas will have an advantage in your opinion?
22:33
Have you thought about a pathway Or you know what what what the
22:36
recipe looks like considering the other three teams in that
22:38
group? Look, I, I would like to comfort
22:44
myself by saying that we are in the group of death, but I think
22:47
every group in this Olympics is a group of death.
22:49
So I can't really lean back on that argument to make myself
22:53
feel better. Look, Germany, the USA and
22:55
Zambia are three unbelievable teams and they have so many
23:00
different kinds of weapons at their disposal that the Matildas
23:05
are really going to have to try very, very hard to counter.
23:10
You know, we've got the USA who under Emma Hayes are looking
23:13
absolutely frightening, especially now that you've got
23:16
Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman and Jayden Shaw and, you know, a
23:19
couple of young, really exciting, dynamic, interesting
23:23
players who are finally sort of clicking with each other.
23:25
I think that the weakness in the USA is potentially in midfield
23:29
personally, and that is where I think maybe Australia have a
23:33
little bit of an edge over them, especially if Katrina Gori is
23:38
fit and firing. If she's able to come back from
23:41
this ankle surgery that she had a couple of months ago and she's
23:44
at the same level that she was during the Women's World Cup,
23:46
combined with Cara Cooney cross and potentially Mary Fowler in
23:49
there as well, I think we have a really excellent midfield.
23:53
You have a lot of dimension to them and a lot of ways of being
23:56
able to not just suffocate an opposition midfield, but to be
24:00
able to scythe through them and find avenues towards goal
24:04
through that. I think with Germany, I mean,
24:06
they obviously had a pretty terrible Women's World Cup.
24:08
And that makes me a little bit more worried about them
24:11
actually, because they're gonna be coming into this Olympics
24:14
with revenge on their mind and, and wanting to make up for that
24:18
pretty crap tournament as well. And they're obviously a very
24:20
physical team. They're very good in the air
24:22
technically in terms of their possession.
24:24
They're they're very good. They're very smart.
24:26
They've also got a a very good midfield as well.
24:29
Lena Obeldorff, I think is one of the greatest players in in
24:31
football at the moment. Yeah, she wasn't at the Women's
24:33
World Cup, but I think she's gonna be pretty, pretty excited
24:36
for this Olympics, too. So in that respect, I think the
24:40
way that the Matildas ought to attack that is by really
24:42
emphasizing their wing play and their wide play and talking
24:45
about the speed and stuff earlier.
24:47
You know, having those wide players in your Caitlin Ford and
24:49
your Haley Rasso, your overlaps with Ellie Carpenter and Steph
24:53
Catley in particular on the left, another absolutely
24:56
unbelievable player who nobody gives enough credit to.
24:59
Forcing Germany to be pulled apart and then having some
25:01
players bombing in through the middle, those midfielders and
25:04
Michelle Heyman, who's very good in the air, that seems to me to
25:07
be the biggest strength for the Matildas in that particular
25:09
game. And Zambia, I mean, Zambia are
25:12
kind of being framed here as the weakest team in the group, but
25:15
they have two of the best centre forwards currently operating in
25:19
world football. And if the Matildas are known
25:22
for anything, it's being a little bit shaky at the back.
25:25
So I am a little bit scared of what is going to happen in that
25:29
Zambia game. Barbara Manda and and Rachel
25:32
Cunnangie have just been sensational in the NWSL since
25:35
they moved there. They're playing consistently
25:37
against world class centre backs and they are just like slicing
25:41
through them like a knife through butter.
25:42
It's really, really scary. Whereas we've sort of got a a
25:46
centre back pairing in Alana Kennedy and Claire Hunt who they
25:50
haven't really had a huge amount of game time together.
25:52
Claire Hunt only debuted for the Matildas less than a year ago
25:55
and she's obviously excellent and has really risen up the
25:58
ranks and signed for PSG. But she's also been out with an
26:01
injury over the last few months and has only recently been
26:03
reincorporated back into the side alongside Kennedy, who
26:07
herself is kind of prone to a clanger every now and then, as
26:10
we saw during the Women's World Cup when we lost to Nigeria.
26:12
So the worry there is that Australia will really
26:16
underestimate Zambia in the same way that they did Nigeria.
26:19
Perhaps they'll get through that first game against Germany and
26:21
think that it's smooth sailing. But that's when you let your
26:24
guard down and then that's when you're you're most vulnerable.
26:26
So yeah, I mean against that kind of opponent, I think it
26:31
really will be just about neutralizing those two attackers
26:34
and just trying to find alternative ways to goal because
26:38
there's obviously Zambia, not just those two players.
26:40
They have a very good team. That's why they're in the
26:42
Olympics. But leaning into the things that
26:45
make the Matilda's deadly, which is defending really well and
26:48
then counter attacking at speed, I think that'll be the way to
26:50
defeat Zambia. Yeah, we've had multiple
26:52
discussions. Dino has a front row seat for
26:54
Barbara Banda in Orlando. She came up to Seattle and
26:58
scored two goals in a game that she didn't even look as
27:02
effective as she does usually. And she's still got a brace
27:05
against Seattle rain up here. I know she's crazy.
27:08
Yeah, I mean, she's absolutely she's unbelievable.
27:10
I I will be really interested to see how other teams, I think you
27:13
almost have to try to play possession football and just
27:16
play keep away from Banda and Kundanagi if you really want to
27:20
try to neutralize them. Dino, since you took that
27:21
question, I want to take another one of the fun questions.
27:23
This is one we also posited near the beginning of the Champions
27:27
League. I believe Sam Kerr stands
27:29
roughly 5 seven. I think she's either 5-7 or five
27:32
eight where she's listed, assuming complete health, the
27:35
knees feeling great, the ability to get an athletic run up.
27:38
Do you think Sam Kerr could dunk a basketball?
27:44
Um, yes, I, yes, I think she can.
27:48
I think she can not just because she like athletically, she is so
27:52
gifted and like we've seen how fantastic she is in the air, but
27:56
also her background is in a sport called Aussie Rules.
28:00
I don't know if Americans know about Aussie Rules.
28:02
The shorthand for it over here is AFL.
28:04
And AFL is kind of like if you combine basketball with soccer
28:09
and it requires a lot of jumping, a lot of athleticism.
28:12
And this was Sam Kerr's sport up until she was about 1314.
28:16
And then she had to pick basically which one she wanted
28:19
to pursue. And she chose football.
28:20
So she's got a background in Aussie Rules, so she knows how
28:24
to throw herself up into the air.
28:26
And she's also a huge basketball fan.
28:27
So I wouldn't be shocked if, like, in her downtime, she goes
28:30
and throws a couple hoops as well.
28:31
So that's another thing that I want to ask the Matilda staff to
28:34
do. Give me a a proper Olympic high
28:37
basketball ring and let me see whether Sam Kerr can do this and
28:41
film it, because the content would be Immaculate.
28:44
I love it. It's like some combination of
28:47
like a middle school field day and we used to have a show here
28:50
in the 80s and 90s called American Gladiators where like
28:53
it's just like a some combination of of random, random
28:56
track and field and events that we could start to get a handle
28:59
on the true athletic ability. Well, you're already here first.
29:02
Your boys posit it Sam Krigg and definitely dug a basketball.
29:05
We've now we've got confirmation from the from the one and only
29:07
Samantha Lewis. We appreciate that you mentioned
29:11
Australia might be sitting in the Group of death here on the
29:14
ITC. We refer to that as the group of
29:16
Life. The original group of life was
29:18
during the Champions League where we had PSG, IX, Bayern and
29:22
Roma flip flopping for the duration of the group stage.
29:26
I think this group, Zambia, US, Germany, Australia probably
29:29
qualifies as this tournament's group of life.
29:32
So we can feel free to embrace that terminology, which which we
29:36
just kind of get a kick out of here at the ITC.
29:38
Love that. I'll take that.
29:39
It'll help me help me quell my anxieties about it.
29:43
We're embracing the fear, full on.
29:45
I think it's I think it's mutual worldwide.
29:49
So Samantha, you've been very generous with your time.
29:51
We appreciate your your insight, your expertise.
29:54
Can you tell our folks, by the way, real quick note before we
29:58
ask them to check out some of your work on XI believe.
30:01
And you know, we've had Leanne Sanderson on the show.
30:04
We've had Cameron Pope and Chris Sharples from the Dezone
30:07
network. We've had our pal a seal two
30:09
Filey former Lebanon national team player, now journalist for
30:14
Forbes. Samantha, I do believe you also
30:17
hold the the distinction best Twitter handle in the history of
30:21
into the channel guests. Where can our pals who watch the
30:25
show find you on Twitter? Oh, this is so embarrassing.
30:30
And you know, what's really even more embarrassing is that when I
30:33
came up with this Twitter handle, I was, I think 17 or 18.
30:37
And I just thought it was a fun little thing that wouldn't mean
30:40
anything to anybody. But now I'm kind of too far deep
30:43
that I can't change it because this is how people know me now.
30:46
So my Twitter handle is battle dinosaur.
30:49
I remember talking to a friend of mine who who knew someone at
30:52
Twitter because she she sort of came to me and said, are you
30:55
interested in changing your, your Twitter handle to, you
30:57
know, know your name? You know, something that's a
30:59
little bit more professional, a little bit more official.
31:01
And I was like, well, but do people know my name anymore?
31:04
I think the people probably just know me as Battle Dinosaur.
31:07
So yeah, that that is sadly how I'm known now around the world.
31:11
OK, I, I mean, I will disagree only in the sense that I don't
31:15
think it's sadly at all. I think it's fantastic.
31:17
I will say it did make me double take.
31:18
I was like when I was doing the research to invite you on, I was
31:21
like same person, OK, yes, this is the good report and these are
31:23
the right links. OK, that's what I want.
31:26
And so Speaking of that good report, you had a couple of just
31:29
wonderful articles. Dino alluded to it earlier.
31:32
You recently published a couple great articles for ABC.
31:36
I'm hoping you could share those with the audience and point them
31:38
in that direction. Yeah, so I have a particular
31:42
fondness for writing about the history of Australian women's
31:45
soccer. During the Women's World Cup
31:47
last year, one of my biggest passions was using the platform
31:51
and the spotlight of the tournament to be able to educate
31:54
a lot of folks about the fact that our game has a much longer
31:58
history and much more interesting history than I think
32:00
what most people realize going back over 100 years.
32:03
So I was very fortunate to be able to tell a lot of really
32:07
interesting stories about some pioneer players, some pioneer
32:10
teams, and some pioneer tournaments that no one had
32:13
really heard of before. And one of those teams was a
32:17
club side based here in Sydney called Saint George, Budapest.
32:21
And they were one of the first women's teams that were founded
32:25
in Australia back in the very late 1960s and early 1970s.
32:30
And that club became really famous, not just because they
32:34
were incredibly successful on the field, going for 10 years
32:37
undefeated, but because the vast, vast majority of those
32:41
players, we're also the 1st to represent Australia in an
32:44
international tournament overseas.
32:46
So in 1975, Hong Kong hosted what has now become known as the
32:51
first ever Women's Asian Cup. It was organized by the Asian
32:54
Ladies Football Confederation because back then it was a
32:58
ladies governance and men's governors.
33:00
It wasn't the same, and it was the same here in Australia as
33:03
well. Women's soccer was organized by
33:04
the Australian Women's Soccer Association, whereas the men's
33:07
game was governed by the Australian Soccer Federation,
33:10
which was just for me. So in 1975, the Australian
33:13
Women's Soccer Association received an invitation from the
33:16
organizers of this tournament in Hong Kong to send a team to to
33:20
come over and represent Australia in this tournament.
33:22
It was very rudimentary. I suppose there were just five
33:25
teams that were there. And because the Australian
33:29
Women's Soccer Association had never had a national team before
33:33
for women, they threw one of their executive members, the
33:37
secretary of the AWSAA woman named Pat O'Connor.
33:40
She played for Saint George Budapest, she was the captain
33:43
and her husband Joe was the coach.
33:45
So through her they nominated St.
33:48
George Budapest, basically in addition to two other players
33:52
from another club nearby in Sydney, to go over to Hong Kong
33:55
and be the Australian representative for this
33:58
tournament. They finished third.
34:00
It was great. There were 10s of thousands of
34:02
spectators there, which is amazing for the mid 70s.
34:05
There are a number of goals that were scored.
34:06
It was all really impressive and historic moment for Australian
34:10
women's football. But the problem is that that
34:13
team has never been formally recognized as the first official
34:17
Matilda's team because in the process of that team being put
34:21
together, there was no formal selection process that was
34:25
organized. It was just a club team that
34:28
went over and happened to wear Australian shirts and had an
34:32
Australian sign before they played.
34:34
So they just happened to be an Australian representative.
34:36
They weren't an actual national team of Australia because they
34:40
didn't go through this formal selection process run by the
34:43
governing body. However, the issue is that the
34:46
players who represented Australia at that tournament
34:49
disagree. They think that they should be
34:51
recognized as the first official Matilda's team because they
34:55
effectively were. They were the Australian
34:58
national team of the time at the absence of an actual national
35:01
team. And so they feel that they
35:02
deserve the same recognition and the same accolades and the same
35:06
place in history as what every other national team who came
35:09
afterwards have received. And this has been a real point
35:12
of tension for the alumni of the Matildas, which now exceeds over
35:17
200 different players. Because the vast majority of
35:21
them don't think that this 1975 team deserved to be recognised
35:25
as officially capped Matildas because they weren't selected as
35:29
such. They didn't go through a
35:30
selection process in the same way that all the other teams and
35:33
all the other players from 1978, which is the first recognised
35:37
Matilda's team, have done. So there's been this real rift
35:41
that has opened up in in the alumni of the Matildas about
35:44
this question. And in 2022, Football Australia,
35:48
who's the current governing body of the men's and the women's
35:50
game, they compiled a panel of historians to try and really
35:54
figure out and justify a particular position on this
35:57
question because they were getting more and more complaints
36:00
and concerns about it. And that panel of historians in
36:03
2022 concluded that the 1975 team was not a national team
36:08
because it did not go through this selection process.
36:11
And a lot of us thought that the issue was done, that it was put
36:14
to bed, that everyone would just move on with their lives.
36:18
But the 1975 is, as they've become known, weren't satisfied.
36:22
Even though Football Australia had welcomed them into the
36:24
football family and and wanted to acknowledge them in a
36:27
particular way, the players declined and they said that they
36:30
wouldn't settle until they had official caps and were formally
36:34
recognised as Matildas. So this week Football Australia
36:38
announced that they would reverse their decision and that
36:42
the 1970 fivers are now going to be formally recognized as
36:45
Matildas. This came after a separate
36:48
review into the original 2022 decision was made.
36:52
The panel of historians that were consulted in that original
36:54
decision were not consulted at all.
36:57
For this one, Football Australia reached out to four
37:00
international experts, quote UN quote, to put together a, a new
37:04
series of criteria for basically what qualifies A-Team to be a
37:08
national team. And so they overrode all the
37:10
work that had already been done by their own experts, and they
37:14
concluded that yes, this 9 Intifer 75 team ticked enough
37:18
boxes that they should be considered a formal team.
37:21
And as predicted, it has set the entire Matilda's alumni on fire.
37:27
There have been a lot of complaints and frustrations that
37:31
I've heard from players who are really saddened by what's
37:35
happened, including who used to be the first captain and cap
37:39
number one of the Matilda orders.
37:41
Julie Dolan, who you know, she had her photo beamed up on the
37:45
sales of the Sydney Opera House when we won the rights to Co
37:48
host the Woman's World Cup. You know, she's a really
37:50
significant figure in our game. Her name is used for the medal
37:53
that's awarded to the Most Valuable Player in the A League
37:55
women domestic club competition here as well.
37:58
So like she's a really important person and now the thing that
38:00
has made her important has been stripped away from her by some
38:04
people who probably don't know very much about women's soccer
38:09
in Australia in the 1st place. So the process behind it is one
38:12
of the biggest concerns for me. The fact that our own historians
38:15
were totally ignored in favour of these people overseas,
38:18
including the former head of communications of Canada Soccer,
38:21
Like, and they were just kind of really random.
38:23
And we were never given any justification for why these
38:26
people were selected or what expertise they had to weigh into
38:29
this conversation. And the the historians that knew
38:33
for decades so much about the game here, they weren't even
38:36
asked to review this decision by these new people.
38:39
They were just told that this is the new decision and and that's
38:42
it. They had no opportunity to
38:43
respond to that. So some of the historians or a
38:46
lot of the historians that I know in Australian soccer are
38:48
incredibly angry that this was the process that was done after
38:51
they thought that they'd arrived at a really justified and sound
38:54
historical position about this question.
38:56
And now it's thrown open this can of worms in so many other
39:00
respects because the new criteria is very different to
39:04
the original way in which we measured or qualified people to
39:09
be national team players. So now there is potentially a
39:13
huge group of people, including players who only ever sat on the
39:18
bench for both the Matildas and the Socceroos, the men's
39:20
national team, and players who were in B squads, so not A
39:24
internationals, but B teams. So reserve teams, all of them
39:27
now have a case for prosecuting why they should be recognized as
39:31
capped players, whereas as before in the old criteria, they
39:35
weren't able to. So I don't really think Football
39:37
Australia realise what they've done in this respect.
39:40
I don't think they understand the Pandora's box that they've
39:43
opened and the huge number of loose ends that are still united
39:47
and haven't been accounted for. So yeah, it's a really like, it
39:51
folds in a lot of really interesting threads about the
39:54
history of the Australian game, about governance decisions,
39:58
about the legacy of national teams, about the community and
40:01
the culture of the alumni. I lots of things that I'm really
40:04
interested in personally and, and also professionally as my
40:07
job. But it's, it's also just very,
40:10
it's very sad at the end of the day because we're barely 12
40:13
months on from hosting a Women's World Cup, which was this
40:17
extraordinary unifying moment for the game and for our
40:20
country. And now this decision has been
40:22
made, which has caused a massive fracture in the very same
40:26
community that were meant to benefit from that tournament.
40:29
So ultimately it's just it really leaves you flat.
40:32
A lot of twists and turns. I appreciate you sharing the
40:35
story with us. And I feel like the phrase, I
40:37
don't think insert federation here knows exactly what they've
40:42
done. That feels like a universal
40:44
truth across the globe. Yeah, absolutely.
40:49
Yeah. And it's, it's kind of the, the
40:51
story of the, the history of the game here as well.
40:55
Any, any Australians who are listening to this podcast will
40:57
know exactly what I'm talking about, that we are undefeated
41:01
when it comes to shooting ourselves in the foot as a
41:03
sport, Whenever we've got a good thing, we find a way to ruin it.
41:07
And this seems to be just the latest example of that.
41:10
Understandable. So the other story I had
41:13
referenced is about Courtney Vine, who you had referenced
41:16
earlier in this show. And now I can't, I can't decide
41:18
if I'm asking you to rehash other things that are maybe not
41:21
great for Australian football. But at the risk of, of, of
41:25
opening that door, I, I know obviously we're based here in
41:28
the States. People were excited to see
41:30
Courtney Vine signing with the North Carolina Courage.
41:32
You wrote about some additional implications to that signing.
41:36
Yeah, so Corny Vine is a really interesting story and I think
41:40
she's very emblematic of the the state that the Alec Women is
41:44
currently in. A lot of us were surprised when
41:46
she resigned for Sydney FC, her hometown club, after the Women's
41:50
World Cup, after she shot to fame for scoring that iconic
41:54
penalty against France. So she resigned for Sydney for a
41:57
year and Sydney was the club which really was her breakout
42:00
club. I mean, she'd played for a
42:01
couple of other clubs in the past, but Sydney was where she
42:04
really came into her own. It was where she got her
42:06
Matilda's call UPS and it's where she ultimately has become
42:09
a legend of Australian sport. So when she resigned for them
42:13
for personal reasons, I I think it was it was potentially that
42:16
she felt she owed them perhaps some of her success in that way.
42:19
Her partner Charlotte McLean, who has also joined the North
42:22
Carolina coach, was playing for Sydney at the time too.
42:25
Obviously she had friends and family here.
42:26
She loves living in Australia. But I think also the Australian
42:30
Professional Leagues, which is the governing body that runs the
42:33
A leagues, the men's and the women's comp.
42:34
They probably saw Corning Vine as their biggest marketing tool
42:38
at the time because the whole country knew who she was.
42:41
She'd just been part of this incredible moment with the
42:44
Matildas during the World Cup. Her face was everywhere.
42:48
So it it wouldn't have surprised me if they threw a lot of money
42:51
at her to be sort of a marquee marketing guru player, to be the
42:56
player who would do all the all the signings and all the photo
42:59
shoots and be across all the promotional material for the
43:01
league. Because that was their goal,
43:03
right? They needed to capitalize on the
43:05
Halo effect of this Women's World Cup and try to translate
43:08
that interest into interest in the A League women, the domestic
43:11
club comp, which has always kind of struggled to bank on the, the
43:15
success of the Matildas. So Courtney Vine was kind of
43:17
perfect. She was exactly the person that
43:20
they needed and it, it worked. You know, the, the first game
43:23
that Courtney Vine played, which was the opening game between
43:25
Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers.
43:27
So the Sydney Derby, it set a new record for attendance
43:30
figures in, in the competition throughout history.
43:33
It was over 11,000 people who turned out for that, that
43:35
opening game and it still hasn't been broken.
43:38
So you know it, it did work in that respect.
43:41
And any game that you went to involving Sydney FC where
43:44
Courtney Vine was playing, you would see fans lining up all the
43:48
way around the field, regardless of which club they supported in
43:52
order to get a signature or a photo with Courtney Vine.
43:55
So she was fantastic in that respect and obviously she's a
43:58
great player. She was probably already too
44:01
good for this league and I don't think anyone is shocked that now
44:06
is the time for her to make this move overseas.
44:08
But the issue I think that the A League Women are now going to
44:12
have is that increasingly they are losing these players.
44:17
They are losing these big name star players who have Matilda's
44:20
caps. They have recognition because
44:23
the A League women here is still not full time, it's still not
44:26
fully professional, it's part time players are still paid
44:30
basically the minimum that they can be paid and it's just not
44:33
competitive enough, especially really for players who are
44:36
seeking bigger and better things from the national team like
44:38
Courtney Vine. So increasingly we're seeing our
44:41
best and brightest players move elsewhere, going overseas in
44:44
seeking full time football. And it's been a real bug bearer
44:48
of mine personally because this is the second kind of wave that
44:53
we've experienced of this particular thing.
44:55
The 1st wave was back in sort of 20/19/20.
44:58
When you're Sam Kurz and your Caitlin Fords and your Alana
45:01
Kennedys and your Steph Catley's made that first move over to
45:05
Europe to sign for these big clubs.
45:07
That should have been the Canary in the coal mine for the people
45:09
who run the leagues. That they needed to do something
45:12
and do something quickly. They needed to find more money,
45:15
they needed to expand the competition, they needed to make
45:18
it full time because these players want to be full time
45:21
athletes and if you can't offer them a competition that does
45:24
that, then they're not going to stay.
45:26
Like it's a pretty simple equation, but we're four years
45:29
down the track now and it still hasn't happened.
45:32
So it's really frustrating for those of us who have watched
45:35
this and who care so much about the women's game and who see
45:39
what's happening overseas. The NWSL is the perfect example.
45:43
How rapidly that has grown in popularity, in investment, in
45:47
success, in competitiveness over the past, not just four years,
45:50
but even the last two years really the expansion of the
45:53
clubs, all these new fan bases coming in like you've just got
45:56
the perfect mix of things that is working so well for your
46:00
market. And here in Australia, the
46:02
people who are governing our game just don't seem to
46:05
understand that. And I think one of the biggest
46:07
problems is that because the women's clubs are still deeply
46:12
financially tied to the men's clubs, those in decision making
46:16
positions will always prioritize the men.
46:18
They will always fund men more. They will always think of them
46:22
first when it comes to marketing.
46:23
They will always think of them first when it comes to
46:25
scheduling. They will always put them first.
46:28
And the women just have to deal with whatever is leftover.
46:31
And for me and for an increasing number of people, it's starting
46:34
to get to the point where we're talking about maybe separating
46:37
these two competitions and trying to have an, an
46:40
independently run a league. Women a very similar to what the
46:44
NWSL does, Because that really is kind of the standard that I
46:47
think a lot of people are looking to.
46:48
Yes, the the WSL in England is great, but it's also suffering
46:53
at the same time from the same issue that we've got, which is
46:55
that they're too tied to their men's teams and too dependent on
46:58
them. And they can't really separate
47:00
and spin off and become their own entity.
47:02
So that's where this competition sort of sits at the moment.
47:06
And my real worry is that in the wake of this Women's World Cup,
47:09
which was meant to be this sort of new foundational moment for
47:14
the women's game in Australia, that those who have the
47:19
strategic decision making positions in the sport, and
47:22
particularly in the league have made the wrong decisions or
47:25
they've they're making decisions too slowly.
47:27
And so all of the organic natural momentum and excitement
47:31
and energy that the World Cup generated is just going to
47:35
trickle away and there's not going to be much of A league
47:38
leftover for people to get excited about.
47:40
Totally agree. It's I, I think it is the most
47:43
massive advantage that the NWSL has is that they are not tied to
47:48
other clubs. They have independent investors.
47:50
I mean, I'm saying that as a Seattle Rain supporter, the
47:53
group that owns the Seattle Sounders just bought the Seattle
47:56
Rain from OL group and some people are happy about the
48:00
investment. I'm happy that now they can
48:02
maybe get active in the transfer window, but there is that part
48:05
in the back of my mind that goes, okay, don't start treating
48:08
the club like second class. You see it happening in
48:10
Manchester United. There's just that absolutely
48:12
ridiculous story where they're moving, shuffling everybody
48:15
around. They're shuffling the women out
48:16
of their facility to make room for the men.
48:19
Just shameful behavior by United.
48:21
Well, imagine where there's relegation in the Premier League
48:24
too. You have a bottom three team now
48:26
they're down in the Championship, cost them 10s of
48:29
millions of dollars probably. And now a woman's team has to
48:32
suffer because of that. It it we really just kind of
48:34
need to have this be decoupled. Zambia is another nation where
48:38
there's huge issues with regard to investment.
48:40
And then you realize, of course, there's one body that's dipping
48:43
up the money and there's a men's team and a women's team.
48:46
And all the while, yeah, Samantha, you mentioned Fonda
48:49
Kunda, Naji Chanda. Like, this is a team with
48:54
superstars, like global superstars that have far out
48:57
shown, you know, the men's side and they're still sort of having
49:01
to contend with having a scrap for dollars that that should
49:05
absolutely, absolutely be there. But yeah, again, just want to
49:08
thank you for the time. Thank you for hopping on with
49:10
us, going into the channel with us.
49:12
We very, very much appreciate it.
49:13
I think we've got a real great understanding of the Matildas
49:17
and exactly what's at stake, not just on the on the pitch, but as
49:21
an enterprise. So we very much appreciate you
49:23
hopping on, giving us all the dirt, everything we need to know
49:26
about the tournament, getting, getting us excited.
49:28
Spilling all the tea about the history of this giant game,
49:30
Yeah. All the tea rewind back to the
49:32
70s. We're we're all about to never
49:34
stay die here. We're going to stitch that, you
49:36
know, on the inside of these bad boys as soon as we get off the
49:39
get off the call. So very much appreciate all of
49:41
the, all the, all the background and, and and the great Intel.
49:45
Thanks again for coming on. Thank you so much.
49:46
This was really, really fun. Yeah.
49:48
Any opportunity to to come on and talk Tilly's, whether old or
49:51
or new, is one that I relationed.
49:54
Yeah. I mean, fingers crossed for this
49:56
Olympic Games as well. You know, both of our national
49:59
teams are in this group of life together.
50:02
I don't know how it's going to go, but hopefully we are able to
50:05
remain friends at the end of it. Absolutely no doubt always.
50:09
We'll be checking at Battle Dinosaur for the updates from
50:12
your side of the world and for everybody watching.
50:14
Thanks for joining us. Make sure again you check out
50:16
Samantha Lewis's work at abc.net. dot AUI just did a
50:21
simple search of Samantha Lewis Women's Football Australia.
50:23
That brought up a bunch of her work as well.
50:25
So go find that and for everybody, we will talk to you
50:29
next time.