CommBank Matildas midfielder Katrina Gorry spoke to media about how she is tracking after her return from an ankle injury that saw her miss the latter part of the WSL season, and the birth of her son Koby.
“It’s been a whirlwind couple of months for sure,” she began, reflecting on the time since injuring her ankle in late March.
“Obviously, [I was] pretty devastated about my injury, but I’m so grateful for all the support and I knew that I could trust my body to get me back. I get to do it with my beautiful family as well. I’m feeling good, my ankle is doing really well, and I'm just so happy to be back in camp.”
Gorry has been back in full training for a few weeks as she looks to rebuild her fitness ahead of Paris 2024™.
“I did a lot of running sessions by myself, trying to get back into the team, and since I’ve been back, I’ve been doing full sessions,” she explained. “Haven’t missed a beat really.”
Both the national team set-up, and West Ham – Gorry’s club team - were supportive of her doing her rehab in Sweden as she spent time with her fiancé, Clara Markstedt, in the lead-up to Koby’s birth.
However, now that she’s back in camp, “everything goes on as usual.”
“Harper [her daughter] knows pretty well that I’m here to play football, and do my job as best as I can,” the midfielder expressed.
In terms of the tournament itself, Gorry said that the squad was trying to narrow their focus to one game at a time.
“It’s really special to be here, and the Olympic Games is always a special tournament,” she said. “As a kid you grow up wanting to be an Olympian, so this is definitely special for me.
“Obviously [it was] really difficult to miss Tokyo, but I got to have Harper, so it’s all been a pretty incredible journey and to now be here and to get to share it with my family, and to know that I got back from the injury, is definitely really special to me.
“I think we just take one game as it comes. The Olympic Games is a pretty intense tournament, game after game. Really good opponents throughout the whole tournament. So we’re just looking at the first game making sure we’re ready to go, and we’ll take whatever happens after that.”
One of the defining features of the CommBank Matildas over the past 18 months or so has been Gorry’s midfield partnership with Kyra Cooney-Cross. She was asked about their relationship on the pitch and if she had been in touch to mentor the youngster while not in camp.
“I watched all the games when I wasn’t a part of it, and we get to dissect little things throughout it and help each other along the way,” she explained.
“It’s been nice to be back out on the training pitch with her discussing what we can work on, how we can be better. We have an amazing connection, so hopefully you get to see that in the next couple of weeks.”
Finally, she was also asked about the influence of long-time teammate – and captain for the tournament – Steph Catley, and what the fullback brings to the side.
“She’s a special player, but she’s also a pretty special person,” Gorry began. “I think anyone that meets her can see straightaway how kind she is, how trustworthy.
“She just knows how to speak to people, doesn’t matter if they’re old or young. I think all of the players will go with her or to her with anyone that they have. She’s a special person to have in this team for sure.”
MATCH DETAILS
Australia v Canada
Date: Saturday, 13 July 2024 (local) / Sunday, 14 July 2024 (AUS)
Time: 9:00pm (local) / 5.00am (AEST)
Venue: Marbella, Spain
Broadcast: Paramount+