With only one game scheduled, this September window has provided the Commonwealth Bank Matildas a chance to reset and get ready for the next phase in the journey to 2023.
Part of that preparation has seen the team undergo testing under the guidance of Football Australia’s Performance Director, Paddy Steinfort.
“The start of this camp was really focused on the individual part of the whole team and focused on being a player-centred program starting from the ground up,” Steinfort explained.
“So we had full-screen medicals with both physio and the doctors, a number of different sports science tests to test people's physical capacities, technical meetings with the coaching staff talking about skill development and individual player plans, some higher-level education on specific women's health issues in performance and neuroscience tests to look at the mental side of the game. So really a comprehensive approach to what it takes to build the best athlete possible.”
Following on from Tokyo and the Commonwealth Bank Matildas best ever result at the Olympics, now is the best possible time for this kind of assessment.
“It's hugely important to get a baseline coming out of Tokyo because while we achieved great results there, we didn't get what we wanted. We want to win tournaments, we want to at least get to the podium in the Olympics and we're getting ready for both the Asian Cup and also the World Cup in 2023.” Steinfort said.
“So knowing where we're at, allows us to be really targeted with the individual programs we put around players and allows us to measure our progress so that this time next year, we can check what sort of progress we've made at both an individual level but also on a team front and that base that only comes if we know where we're at when we start.”
For the players, this testing period to start an international window was a little bit different to what they are used to when they head into camp.
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“It was a bit different. Camp's always been an environment where you come straight into football,” Tameka Yallop said.
“So to have all the testing and stuff for the first three or four days was definitely different for us.
“It's always good to see where you're at and compare yourself with other elite athletes and there's always something that you can learn, so I think that's the best thing that has come of this, [knowing] where you're good, and where you need to be better in other areas.”
But with a first-ever match against the Republic of Ireland only days away, camp has shifted back to a more traditional match preparation, including some full match simulations.
“Yeah, it was good to get out on the park and play some 11 v. 11. I think we've been missing that. There's a lot of new faces in camp, so it's also nice to get out on the field and have a training session together,” Yallop said.
After some time in quarantine back home, Yallop is ready and raring to go once again.
“It feels good to be back on the pitch because I spent a little bit of time in quarantine, which is isolating. Especially going from a tournament mode where you’re around everyone 24/7, quarantine is a little bit different.”
“I was able to catch up with some family so that was nice to and be on the sunny Gold Coast, which is one of my favourite places, so it was good, but equally it's good to be back in the football scene.”