CommBank Matilda Winonah Heatley fulfilled a lifelong dream when she was substituted on in the second half against Canada in the ‘B’ International Match on Sunday morning (AEST).
While the match was not her full international debut, it was still an incredibly proud moment for the 23-year-old North Queenslander.
“I’ve wanted to play for the national team my entire life,” she expressed, “so it’s a big honour.
“I’ve been in camps since 2021, so it feels like a big build-up. I’m just so happy.
“Of course I was nervous. When you want something that bad, there’s a lot of emotions. Nerves were definitely one of them, but so was excitement.”
Heatley explained that while there were good moments for her on the pitch, there were plenty of learning opportunities that she will take with her for the rest of her career.
“I’m excited to watch it back and see what I can do better,” she said.
“It was really cool to test myself against them [Canada] and see how I match up.
“You always want to test yourself and this is the highest level I’ve played at. Canada are the previous Olympic winners, so they're really, really high quality.”
Heatley was a late call-up into camp after injuries to defenders Steph Catley and Kaitlyn Torpey kept them out of the squad for the match against Canada.
She said it was a big confidence builder for her that Head Coach Tony Gustavsson had given her some minutes despite not being in the 22-player squad headed for Paris.
“To have the belief and the confidence in me is obviously a big confidence builder,” she said. “To be able to test myself at this level was also really nice.”
Looking forward, she hopes she can make her full CommBank Matildas debut post-Olympic Games.
“I’ve got to keep pushing, keep coming into the squad and keep pushing for minutes,” she outlined.
“Everyone’s just super supportive every time I come into camp and it’s been the same this week.”
AUSTRALIA | MATCH SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024™ OLYMPIC GAMES
Germany v Australia
Date: 25 July 2024 (local) / 26 July 2024 (AEST)
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local) / 3.00am AEST
Venue: Stade de Marseille, Marseille, France
Australia v Zambia
Date: 28 July 2024 (local) / 29 July 2024 (AEST)
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local) / 3.00am AEST
Venue: Stade de Nice, Nice, France
Australia v United States
Date: 31 July 2024 (local) / 1 August 2024 (AEST)
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local) / 3.00am AEST
Venue: Stade de Marseille, Marseille, France