I believe....the most powerful thing about sport, we will come to experience very soon. Teams are a collaboration of individuals who at one point in time strive to achieve the exact same thing. Tonight we will.

This is the powerful nature of team sports. Lately I've been caught thinking about our diverse squad and the dynamics of how we operate. I look around the Matildas and each of us has travelled different paths...

The thing i adore about our team is the individuality that shines...
-The young girls for instance have such an influence beyond what anyone could have imagined. I'd be lying if i said i didn't bop to the catchy tunes blasting down the hallway, forever tracing the tunes back to their rooms. They dress in similar ways and follow each other round, supposedly "cool kids do stick together". They make the experience so light hearted and are a nice reminder that life doesn't have to be so serious.
-We have the footballers who live and breath the game, at any given moment they will be flicking on the TV to watch a game, over dinner you will hear them speak of results... Football is in their blood you could say...
-At the other end of the spectrum, you have the players (i probably fall in to this category more so) who will quite happily switch off from football after training and return to her football brain at the next session or when its is required, meetings etc... Personally, since returning to the game after my 2 year sabbatical this approach suits me.

Differing personalities and situations such as these, reminds us its as much about the journey as the football itself. We all have our own individual take on the same experience...It always nice to reflect on our past as a group. Sometimes the impact and power of what we are over here achieving escapes us... Having the chance to reminisce reminds us how special the journey is.

We are in an environment where we can learn as much or as little as we would like... I'd like to think that all my team-mates savour the opportunity to grow both as footballers and as people. Within the set-up of our group, staff and players included we all have a level of self responsibility to adhere to, recovery, sleep, nutrition... We all take pride in the fact we have the freedom yet don't abuse it at the same time. It's not what you experience... It's how you handle it.

Believe in each of your team-mates. Trust in that belief, you and your team-mates are capable of achieving. I understand that my role as a team member is to help me team-mates win. If your on the bench you lead the bench, optimising the harmony of the squad and have everyone in the most confident frame of mind possible for each of us to confront the challenge ahead and to achieve the very best start for the team on the world stage.

It is said that "luck happens when preparation meets opportunity". We are certainly well prepared, and there is no greater opportunity for a big scalp first up than with Brazil. It is also said that one of the reasons our sport is known as the "beautiful game", is that you have to take advantage of any luck that comes your way. That too is something in which we all trust...... We all lead our own lives, such a unique group of individuals. Different motivations, differing reasons we all rise of a morning... But tonight we all strive for the exact same thing.