Montemurro: We will cover all our bases ahead of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027™

CommBank Matildas Head Coach Joe Montemurro said that the team was setting out to cover all bases ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027™ next year.

He was speaking to media on Thursday after the 26-player squad was announced for the two-game friendly series against Germany and Haiti in Europe next month.

“We're approaching it from the point of view that we've stabilised the way we want to play and we've stabilised the ideas that we think are our base. What we need to do now is start to introduce a couple of other things that we could be challenged with in the tournament,” he explained.

“That could be tinkering with a little bit of system, design of structure with and without  the ball. We just want to make sure that we cover all our bases, and the players that we bring in have the profile to do these little adjustments that we need. 

“It’s going to be really important for all the tactical approaches that we tinker with, that we have the quality of players that can adjust to that quite quickly.”

Three uncapped players have been selected in this squad – defender Tori Tumeth, midfielder Hana Lowry and goalkeeper Courtney Newbon.

“They've done exactly what we require all the players on our depth chart to do, and that's, performing week to week at a high level in good leagues. They deserve the opportunity,” he said.

“All those players have shown different qualities, but qualities that we believe are a good base to move forward with.”

He expanded, in particular, on the selection of Newbon. The 26-year-old Melbourne Victory goalkeeper earned her first national team call-up after a stellar 2025/26 campaign between the sticks.

It is just reward after years of toil in the A-Leagues.

“We spoke to her a while back, and there were two or three key things that we felt that could improve her game,” Montemurro said.

“Tony Franken [goalkeeping coach] has done a great job in terms of communicating with the Victory goalkeeping staff, and the way she took that information on board and the way she went about it was brilliant. That always stuck in my mind because we can talk about the football, we can talk about the talent and so on - but for me, the attitude to want to come into the Matildas, the attitude to want to be a Matilda is the biggest thing.

“Her attitude was just fantastic. How she took that on, she went about it, she did it. The last part of the A-League season was probably some of her best football. We just felt that the opportunity arose to bring her in and see and test her at this level, and I'm excited to see how she goes.”

He gave some insight into what the team will gain tactically from taking on a nation like world no.3 Germany.

“We're playing a team, in Germany, who are a very good team. They’re probably in the top three in Europe at the moment. They've got the talent, but they've really come a long way in the last year in terms of their rebuild,” he said.

“They have some interesting ways that they rotate. They play with three that stay very narrow up top, and their fullbacks do push on quite early. So you're seeing a top five all the time. We need to deal with that challenge in terms of when they build up and when they do go forward. 

“There’s a lot of differing styles [in football], but one thing I can assure you of is the talent and the growth of players that are just so comfortable with the ball, so good in making decisions. It’s really come a long way over the last two or three years, and teams can adapt accordingly.”

With Kyra Cooney-Cross, Alanna Kennedy and Katrina Gorry all missing from the squad, he said it was a fantastic opportunity for other players to stand up in midfield.

“It's going to be a great opportunity for us to see whether the work we're doing is going to be consistent,” he said.

“We’re missing some important players, but I see that more as a positive for us. We’ve got Alana Murphy who is doing really well at Nottingham Forest, who I think will have a good camp. Clare Wheeler has stablised herself as a top midfielder. Amy Sayer is now playing a little bit deeper, so we'll probably play her more in an eight position than a more advanced position, which I've tried. 

“Mary Fowler can play in those areas. Hana Lowry will be given an opportunity. Alex Chidiac - so I can keep naming players that I believe are of a very high level. For me, it's a really good test to see whether the work we've done can continue our process.”