Matildas coach Joe Montemurro set to make more changes to Australia's team for return clash with Panama
Despite sitting 41 places lower than Australia in the world rankings, Panama beat a Matildas team missing a host of stars – including Steph Catley, Alanna Kennedy, Caitlin Foord, Ellie Carpenter, Clare Hunt, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Charlotte Grant and injured pair Mary Fowler and Sam Kerr – 1-0 in Bunbury on Saturday.
More young talent is set to get an opportunity in game two of the series at HBF Park, with Alex Chidiac, Kaitlyn Torpey and Emily Gielnik having since departed camp, and free agent Micah, who was forced off in the defeat after a crunching second-half blow left her dazed, ruled out.
'We're not going to take any risks,' Matildas coach Joe Montemurro said.
'She (Micah) will be fine. It's just a little bit of whiplash, (but) we just don't want to take any risks. There's no need to.'
Montemurro is happy to further experiment with players and combinations in just his fourth game in charge as he bids to build Australia's depth ahead of next year's AFC Women's Asian Cup.
'It's been great to be able to do it at this level because we can gauge exactly where we're at,' he said.
'I haven't really looked at (Saturday's result) as a loss. I've looked at it as more information for us to go forward.
'We're trying to lift the way, lift the style, lift the football, and we want to do it without negative results, but it's probably one where … when you make a lot of changes there's going to be a little bit of instability, but I still have belief in the process and still have belief in the way going forward.
'We've got a bank of information that will help us go forward.'
Montemurro suggested the learning experience that the next generation of Matildas were being exposed to was priceless.
'It's like everything – you don't lose, you learn,' he said.
'You learn from these situations. It's a perfect opportunity to learn, because it's not a do-or-die game. It's not a game that we are going to lose points on, or lose our status in a competition situation.
'It's a game where it was always prescribed that we were going to make a lot of changes.
'The good thing about it is players, individually, who were given an opportunity, can look at themselves and learn and understand.
'We focused on the take-outs of (Saturday's) game because there were some good passages.
'It just wasn't continuous enough, and it probably wasn't, at times, football-intelligent enough.
'Understanding international football, understanding when a team does break up the game and tries to stop rhythms and so on … we have to be better mentally and even as a coaching staff, we have to be prepared for these opportunities.
'For me, the perfect way of learning these levels of international football is through an experience we had the other day.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
20 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Phil Gould slams Wayne Bennett's Kangaroos ineligibility as decision on Mal Meninga's replacement looms
Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould has lashed the ARLC rule that appears set to cost Wayne Bennett a chance to coach the Kangaroos again. The Australian side is on the hunt for a new coach after Mal Meninga was forced to relinquish the role after agreeing to become the Perth Bears' inaugural coach last month. Under the current rules set by the commission, the national coach can't also be a head coach of an NRL team. FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. And it is that very rule that is set to prevent Bennett – who last coached the Kangaroos in 2005 – from being in the running to become the new coach. It is understood that the coaching legend is interested in the top job, especially ahead of the Ashes series against England later this year. But unless there is a rule change – which appears unlikely – Bennett will be ineligible. The commission is set to vote on whether to change the rule on Wednesday, with both Bennett and Raiders coach Rick Stuart understood to be potentially willing to take on coaching the Australian team as well as their club side. But according to Michael Chammas, a change to the rules is 'unlikely', which led to Phil Gould unleashing. 'I can't see why not (why an NRL coach can't. I really can't see why not,' Gould said on 100% Footy. 'I don't know why it changed back in the old days, they're the best coaches, they're the ones with the best jobs, they're the ones equipped to do it so I can't see why they wouldn't allow it.' Who is in the running to be the next Kangaroos coach? If Bennett and Stuart are ruled out as expected, the next coach appears to be a two-horse race between Cameron Smith and Kevin Walters. Walters was overlooked for the Bears job in favour of Meninga and is said to be eager to return to coaching. While Smith has received ringing endorsements from former teammates who believe he is the perfect man to mentor the green and gold. 'His credentials and resume is probably the best that the game's ever seen,' Maroons captain Cameron Munster said last week. 'When he talks, you listen. If you don't know Cameron Smith, you will eventually when he talks to you. 'He's got that aura about him. He's a bit like Mal. 'I know he's a Queenslander, but he'll pick the best possible squad for the Aussies that he thinks is going to get the job done. There's no better person than Smithy to get the job.' And Smith, who played a whopping 56 Tests for Australia, has put his hand up for the role. 'It's huge, isn't it? I grew up watching Ashes tours where Australia would play Great Britain or England,' he said. 'I never got to play in one, but that's a huge lure to be a part of such a prestigious and historic tour. It hasn't been done for a long, long time – over 20 years – so it would be great to be a part of.' The rugby league Ashes will commence after the NRL season, with the first game to be played at London's Wembley Stadium on October 25 – just 20 days after the NRL grand final.
The Australian
25 minutes ago
- The Australian
AFL: Brisbane Lions star Josh Dunkley backs in-season tournament
Brisbane Lions star Josh Dunkley has backed the idea of an in-season tournament, believing it would not only create excitement but also help reduce the 'competitive advantage' that exists in the AFL. Reportedly discussed last week at a meeting of club chief executives, a lucrative secondary tournament, similar to the NBA Cup concept, is apparently being considered for 2028 when Tasmania enters the competition . It would lead to clubs playing each other only once in the regular season, most likely in addition to Gather Round and Rivalry Round matches. 'It'd be great,' Dunkley said on Tuesday. 'If we can play every team once and then have a little in-season tournament, like the NBA do … it'd be really exciting for the competition.' Dunkley said it would also lead to a 'fairer' regular season schedule that was compromised by all teams not playing each other the same amount of times. Lions vice-captain Josh Dunkley says an in-season tournament would be 'exciting' for the competition. Picture:'When you play everyone once, it's good, it's fair, and you get to see how you go against opposition in one game,' he said. 'At the moment, there are times where we're playing different teams and other teams are playing different teams, and the competitive advantage is always a bit of a question mark for a lot of people. 'For us, it's about playing the best, and everyone, once, and then that mid-season tournament would be pretty cool.' Dunkley also supported the introduction of a wildcard finals round and the return of State of Origin football. '(This year) we saw the Indigenous All-Stars play that game before the season started, and that was really exciting,' he said. 'To be able to do that across the states of origin that you can represent, and go back to your state and enjoy that moment with other players that are from similar areas, that's priceless. 'I'm not sure the time of year that it's played, but if it is played mid-season, it'd be exciting.' Former Western Bulldog Dunkley and the second-placed Lions are chasing a hat-trick of wins when they meet struggling Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night. The Blues are in 12th place on the ladder with just six wins from 16 games, with pressure mounting on coach Michael Voss, who captained the Lions to three successive premierships from 2001 to 2003. Josh Dunkley and Lions are chasing a hat-trick of wins on Thursday night. Picture: Albert Perez/AFL Photos via Getty Images 'I've experienced when you're a bit under pressure at a Melbourne footy club, and it is hard, but you also (feel) there's nothing to lose,' said Dunkley in anticipation of a desperate Blues performance. 'That element of their mental thinking behind the game will be that their backs are against the wall. They've got nothing to lose, so we've got to really prepare for that. 'You get the best footy out of teams when they're thinking like that, and they've got that freedom in their game, so we're going to have to be on edge on Thursday night because they'll be rocking up, and we know that they'll play their best footy.' The Brisbane vice-captain said the Lions would relish another road trip, having lost just once in eight games outside of Queensland this season, as well as winning three successive matches interstate in last year's finals series to clinch the premiership. 'We love getting away together. We talk about our brotherhood, our mateship, and relationships that we have, not only as players but with the staff and the coaches,' Dunkley said. 'It's been nice to be able to have a good record, but we don't really look at that. We look at what we're facing this week, and that's the Blues, who will be red-hot.' Marco Monteverde Sports reporter Marco Monteverde is a Brisbane-based sports reporter for NCA Newswire. He worked in a similar role for The Courier-Mail from 2007 to 2020. During a journalism career of more than 25 years, he has also worked for The Queensland Times, The Sunshine Coast Daily, The Fraser Coast Chronicle and The North West Star. He has covered three FIFA World Cups and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as well as a host of other major sporting events in Australia and around the world. @marcothejourno Marco Monteverde
ABC News
40 minutes ago
- ABC News
Billy Slater backs Queensland squad to lift for Cameron Munster in State of Origin decider
If there's anyone who understands what Cameron Munster has gone through in the lead-up to the State of Origin decider, it is Queensland coach Billy Slater. Slater knew there was nothing he could say to make everything better when he sat with Munster in his room at Queensland camp on Sunday, the day the new Maroons captain learned of his father, Steven's, sudden death. Munster vowed then and there to Slater that, after spending some time with his family, he would lead Queensland in Wednesday's Origin decider — one of the biggest games of his career. "He didn't have a lot of answers for a lot of other things, but he gave that one to me pretty straight," Slater said. "It's a huge game and he wants to be a part of that." To give him as much time as possible with his family, the Maroons booked Munster on a separate flight that would get him to Sydney in time for Tuesday afternoon's captain's run at Sydney's Olympic stadium. "I can't wait to give him a hug," Slater said ahead of Munster's reunion with the team. "Naturally, he's been pretty upset over the last couple of days, but I think the last couple of days he's been where he's needed to be, and that's with his mum and his sister." Slater understood the best thing he could do for Munster sitting in his room on Sunday was to be there as a mate and give him all the time he needed with family. The coach knew that because he lost his own father, Ronnie, earlier this year. "There's no real words that fix any of this," Slater said. "Unfortunately, there's not a switch [to flick]. "I haven't dealt with this as a coach, but I've dealt with it as a person. I lost my father in January. I know what it's like and Cam's an inspiration for many people. "He's a hero to many people in Queensland. I can only imagine his dad would've been his first inspiration and his first hero. He'd be hurting right now." That's why Slater knows Wednesday night is the time for the Maroons to show up for Munster, just as he showed up for his teammates guiding them to victory against the odds in Origin II. "Their skipper is going to need them on Wednesday night," Slater said. "I'm sure it'll give them a huge boost, to see their mate going through something that you only go through once in your life, losing your father. I'm sure it's going to have a huge impact on them." Slater has already seen his senior players leading the group with aplomb in Munster's absence. It has been a blessing for the group to have Josh Papalii, the Canberra prop, called out of representative retirement to reinvigorate the forward pack. "It's a feel, with 'Papa,'" Slater said of the veteran's impact on the squad. "The best way I could describe it is it's probably a calmness. Big Tino [Fa'asuamaleaui] has been like a little puppy dog, following him around all week." AAP
