Sermanni: "What we’re trying to do is utilise the squad and give players a chance."

Interim Head Coach Tom Sermanni said that he would utilise the full squad at his disposal for game two against Chinese Taipei on Saturday.

He was speaking alongside CommBank Matilda Winonah Heatley at the pre-match press conference, before heading to Geelong.

“These kinds of games have got a variety of purposes,” he explained.

“Winning is one of the purposes. But also trying to have a look at players, or as many players as we can.

“It’s not always possible to do that, but you try. What we’re trying to do is utilise the squad and give players a chance to actually get on the field at some stage.”

He explained that the plan was to go out on the pitch and play at a high tempo, with some aggression, in order to capitalise on their strengths.

“One of the key things I’ve learned over many years of us being in Asia is that if you play and you conform to the same tempo that the Asian teams like to play at, then they do it better than us,” he said.

“So it was really important for us to have a tempo of the game that was high, to have a really aggressive approach to the game… and to actually use our physically, which is a big asset for us.

“We try to blend all of those things together. I think, generally, I thought the players did it really well [in game one].”
 

 

 

 

 

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Sermanni said there would be some changes to the makeup of the starting eleven.

“We’ve got certain conditions around these games that limit us a little bit, but we will [make changes],” he said.

The one player he was willing to confirm to be starting was Clare Polkinghorne, in what will be her final professional football game.

“Does it get any better than that for a Queenslander?” he joked, in relation to her finishing her career in Victoria.

Heatley, meanwhile, was asked about how she had found the camp so far as one of the more inexperienced players in the squad.

“Having a longer camp like this, it’s a really good opportunity to be able to get some minutes,” she said.

“I found it really rewarding and quite good to find some game time, and I think a lot of players like me in my position have found the same.”

She said that she is starting to feel more comfortable in the CommBank Matildas environment.

“Every camp and every training that I’m in, you find yourself more and more, and you start to be able to be yourself,” she said.

“So it’s definitely been nice being in here for a longer period.”