Prior: "It's been a long journey, but it’s also happened quite quickly."
Defender Natasha Prior said that she was “pretty happy” on Wednesday evening after earning her first start and scoring her first goal for the CommBank Matildas against Chinese Taipei.
On Sunday, she came off the bench to debut for her country to become CommBank Matilda #231. Three days later she found herself in the post-match press conference after an eye-catching performance.
“I’m personally happy with my performance,” she said.
“A few shaky moments, but I think I settled into the game and ultimately just happy to get the win.”
In her own words, her story to get to this point in her career is quite remarkable.
“I retired around the age of 21 – I had a pretty hard concussion,” she recalled.
“I went into full time work, working at Deloitte in Canberra, and then I transitioned to the Sydney team, probably for about two years.
“I had on and off stints playing at different clubs like Sydney, and then I took another break.
“Then, coming back last season properly to the [Newcastle] Jets for a proper full season, and again this year, and then obviously being called in.
“It’s been a long journey, but it’s also happened quite quickly.”
Her goal at the back post on Wednesday was a well-struck volley that even the most veteran goal scorers would have been proud of.
“Honestly, it was quite blank in my head,” she recalled, when asked what she was thinking when she scored.
“We worked on, in training, me being in that back pocket. I was there, got on the right side of my defender, and the ball kind of hit my foot and went in. There’s not much more to it than that really!
“It’s nice that we practiced it and it ended up being pulled off in the game.”
Interim Head Coach Tom Sermanni praised Prior after the match, comparing her performance to that of Clare Hunt when she first came into the team in early 2023.
Prior said that she was flattered by the comparison.
“Being compared to players like Clare Hunt is obviously a large compliment,” she said.
“Clare and I are friends off the field. So it’s nice to be partners on the field now. It’s honestly just a compliment.”
The defender remains working full time around her football commitments. Looking ahead, she would like to get called into another camp and retain her place in the side.
“I’m still working full time, so I’ll finish this, [and then] I think I go into my next project next Wednesday,” she said.
“So I’ve given myself like, two days off after this camp, but I’ll go back working full time, and I guess just see what happens.
“I would love to get called into another camp, into the next one overseas, but we’ll see what happens.”
CommBank Matildas v Chinese Taipei
Date: Saturday, 7 December 2024
Kick-off: 7.30pm AEDT
Venue: GMHBA Stadium, Geelong
Broadcast: 10, 10 Bold, 10 Play and Paramount+
Tickets: matildas.com.au/tickets