(THEME MUSIC)
Hello and welcome back to Australian Story.
We have so many wonderful people to introduce you to this year.
There have been few sporting teams
that have united and thrilled Australians
as much as the Matildas in the 2023 World Cup.
The star players became household names.
The star players One of them was Katrina Gorry.
Her love of the game has been sorely tested in recent years,
but a bold life decision turned things around for her.
WOMAN: Harper, do you want to put some make-up on?
KATRINA: Life has definitely changed a lot after the World Cup.
It's just crazy the amount of people
that want a piece of the Matildas It's just crazy the amount of people
that want a piece of the Matildas now.
You need to doot it. Like, doot-doot!
I think any Matilda is a superstar in people's eyes.
No matter where we go,
"Can I have a picture?" No matter where we go,
"Can I have a picture?" Or "Can you sign this?"
Mah!
They always spot Harper and always want a photo with her.
They always spot Harper Not so much me anymore, but, yeah,
I'm happy to live with the fact Not so much me anymore, but, yeah,
I'm happy to live with the fact that I'm just Harper's mum now.
Alright, let's go to football training.
WOMAN: One marshmallow. Check it out. Ooh!
(LAUGHS) Two marshmallows. WOMAN: Two marshmallows.
WOMAN: Since having Harper, she's a changed human.
It was that missing part of Katrina's life.
MAN: Fantastic.
WOMAN: There was a time that she felt that
WOMAN: There was a time she lost that love for the game.
She didn't have she lost that love for the game.
She didn't have that same fire inside her.
She didn't have MAN: Wow. Fantastic.
It was like three years of,
you know, didn't really want to get up out of bed.
Didn't want to go to training.
I was like, "No, you know what? Didn't want to go to training.
I was like, "No, you know what? I'm done with this."
I just spiralled into a really hard and dark place.
COMMENTATOR: And Katrina Gorry must score.
To come back better than you've ever been before,
and loving football more than you've ever done before
with your baby by your side,
it's very cool to see.
WOMAN: Cheese! MAN: And up! Oh, there it is!
The respect and, yeah, gratitude that I have for my body now,
and, you know, giving me my beautiful daughter,
is, yeah, something that I will, yeah, never disrespect again,
is, yeah, something that I will, I feel like.
MAN: Beautiful.
She reignited my...my football life again.
Nothing can stop me now.
Hey. Hey!
Thank you very much. No worries.
Can you say thank you and bye to everyone?
Thank you. Thank you!
My nickname is Mini.
I kind of always had it from when I was about 12 years old.
I kind of always had it I never really grew.
Everyone looks at me and they're like, "Yeah, that makes sense."
So, yeah, stuck and I kind of like it.
I am the second youngest in my family.
I've got an older sister, two older brothers,
a younger brother,
and then I've got a half-brother and three step-brothers.
and then I've got a half-brother So...a lot of kids.
WOMAN: Katrina loved babies.
Never stopped playing with the...the newest addition
Never stopped playing or her dolls.
There was football and babies.
And that's all that mattered.
I was about six when I started playing, maybe a little bit younger.
My mum wanted me to play netball,
but I wanted to be like my brothers.
They played soccer since forever
and I just wanted to be like them.
And I said, "Well, my daughter isn't playing soccer."
I thought, "Soccer isn't for the girls, it's for the boys."
And how wrong was I? (CHUCKLES)
Mum trialled me in netball
and I decided to kick the ball Mum trialled me in netball
and I decided to kick the ball instead of throw it,
and I decided to kick the ball so eventually she decided like,
"No, this isn't for you. You can go play football."
"No, this isn't for you. And I've never looked back.
LINDA: She played with the boys
because there weren't girls' teams then.
She was always very gutsy.
That ball was the thing she was going for
and she didn't care who was there.
Yeah, there would be parents or coaches yelling out,
"You just got tackled by a girl!" Like, "Come on!"
And that would almost, like, fuel the fire in me.
Like, "Yeah, and I'm gonna tackle him again and again and again."
Like, "Yeah, and I'm gonna tackle him I don't know.
I still remember you always getting in trouble
for being too rough to the boys.
That hasn't stopped, you know.
(LAUGHTER)
I got picked up for the Queensland Academy of Sport
I got picked up for on a full scholarship,
which was pretty daunting
'cause there was players that were 30-plus years old
and I was coming in, this big, at 14,
so it was really scary.
LINDA: It was very tough,
and I just don't think she was ready to be able to deal with that.
She lasted six weeks, I think, and they phoned me and said,
you know, "She's out."
And there was another place that they were saying - Hornchurch.
You just don't know what you want until it's been taken away.
You just don't know what you want And kind of from that moment on,
I knew that And kind of from that moment on,
I knew that I wanted to be a footballer.
LINDA: She got a photo of the Matildas and put it on our fridge.
"This is going to be me."
And she just stuck it on the fridge and looked at it every day.
A year later,
she went back into the Queensland Academy of Sport and shone.
WOMAN: I first met Mini on the football park.
I was still playing.
It was a bit embarrassing when you're a, you know, 24-, 25-year-old I was still playing.
It was a bit embarrassing when you're a, you know, 24-, 25-year-old
and this 16-year-old is skipping past you.
So she was full of confidence and full of flair.
COMMENTATOR: Williams is out! Gorry must shoot!
Gorry shoots!
MELISSA: Mini's professional career
began with Melbourne Victory. MELISSA: Mini's professional career
began with Melbourne Victory.
After a few seasons there,
she returned to Queensland After a few seasons there,
she returned to Queensland to represent Brisbane Roar.
COMMENTATOR: Katrina Gorry setting it up with a magnificent retrieval,
COMMENTATOR: Katrina Gorry setting then that ball placed in.
In 2012, I got my first call-up to the national team.
I'm gonna get emotional now.
Um, but, yeah, for me that was obviously a dream come true.
Um, but, yeah, for me that was COMMENTATOR: And it's great to see obviously a dream come true. Katrina Gorry get a run too.
COMMENTATOR: And it's great to see Katrina Gorry get a run too.
She's a dynamic player. She played fantastic...
That was the best feeling in the world, you know,
putting on the Australian jersey, um...
..singing the national anthem, and, yeah, just living out a dream.
COMMENTATOR: Real enthusiasm today.
Looking to do the job in front of her.
WOMAN: Back in those days,
the only coverage that the Matildas would get WOMAN: Back in those days,
the only coverage that the Matildas would get
the only coverage would be on ABC Radio, SBS TV.
If you could get a crowd of a few thousand,
you were on a really good thing.
One of the turning points for the Matildas
One of the turning points was the Asian Cup in 2014,
because that was when you first started seeing it,
like, reported daily in the news.
And Katrina ended up becoming Asian Player Of The Year.
The Matildas are going for gold in the Olympic Games
for the first time since 2004.
Are we going to Rio?! ALL: Yeah!
Are we going to Rio?! TRACEY: It was the Rio 2016 Olympics
and Brazil is just the heart of football.
Everybody lives and breathes football.
It is absolutely massive.
But guess what.
The Matildas get to meet them in the quarterfinals
and takes them to full time and extra time,
and it goes to a penalty shoot-out.
And Katrina steps up.
COMMENTATOR: Australia have one penalty kick left in front of them
to clinch a spot in the semi-finals of this tournament
to clinch a spot in the semi-finals and knock the host nation out.
It almost felt like we had and knock the host nation out.
It almost felt like we had the world on our shoulders, I think,
and, yeah, it was a lot of pressure that night.
and, yeah, it was I can still feel it now.
Um, you know, sitting back in...on the field
Um, you know, and just thinking, like,
"I hope I don't have to and just thinking, like,
"I hope I don't have to take this penalty.
"I hope I don't have to "I hope I don't have to take it."
COMMENTATOR: And now it's Katrina Gorry, a space in the semi-final.
COMMENTATOR: And now it's Katrina She misses it! Saved!
Barbara palms it away.
If I had've scored the penalty, we would have gone through.
If I had've scored the penalty, Um, but, yeah, the keeper saved it.
COMMENTATOR: They go out on penalty kicks to Brazil.
And I remember feeling, like, just so defeated.
It's a feeling that I hadn't... hadn't really felt in football,
I don't think.
It's a brutal way to lose.
COMMENTATOR: So cruel on the Matildas.
What that does to a person's psychology
What that does can absolutely destroy players,
and they can't recover from that.
It plays on their mind constantly.
MELISSA: In 2017, things were starting to take a toll on Mini.
I slowly, slowly started to notice her energy levels falling away.
The intensity in her performance
was different to what it The intensity in her performance
was different to what it had been in the past.
WOMAN: She put a lot of pressure on herself.
WOMAN: She put a lot of pressure She always wanted to be better.
Really focusing on that expectation She always wanted to be better.
Really focusing on that expectation
of the way the body should be
and the way it should be performing.
I started kind of resenting the game a little bit
and then started having, like, body image issues.
Yeah, I just found myself, you know,
trying to control, like, my food intake.
You know, I wouldn't like to look at myself in the mirror.
I would, you know, not want to eat,
and then I'd kind of binge,
and then it would just be like and then I'd kind of binge,
and then it would just be like a kind of, you know, yo-yo effect.
We'd have to weigh in before we'd go to breakfast
and, you know, you could hear it across the breakfast table.
"I'm not going to eat breakfast this morning,"
or "I'm not eating carbs for lunch," and things like that.
And I think that's when I realised like,
"This is becoming a real issue, but nobody's actually speaking about it."
WOMAN: It is something that's very common
among women athletes, and athletes in general, WOMAN: It is something that's very common
among women athletes, and athletes in general,
because, um, it's...there's so much of a high demand on us
to perform well and maybe look a certain way.
When I look back on photos, you can see that there was something wrong.
And I guess, for me, it was just speaking about it.
And I started speaking to
our psychologist through the national team at the time.
I started to speak to my friends and my family more and more.
MELISSA: Once that communication began,
I think the support around her obviously grew
and she was able to start to better understand
her relationship with food and her body
and, um, start to, you know, recover.
I think as athletes we're just too scared to talk about, you know,
I think as athletes we're just the hard parts of being an athlete.
So I nurture the young players coming up
and make sure that, you know, whatever they're going through,
that I'm there for them.
MAN: Facing this way, make sure we're not crossing our feet over.
AMANDA: Katrina always wanted to have a baby before she was 30.
She was pretty adamant that that's what she wanted.
And then she wanted to be back for the World Cup,
so that was always her goal.
I'd always said, like, "If I don't have a partner,
"then I'm just gonna do it on my own and I'll be fine."
"then I'm just gonna do it MAN: Get warm, then compo time.
MELISSA: I remember her talking MAN: Get warm, then compo time.
MELISSA: I remember her talking about wanting to have a baby,
MELISSA: I remember her talking but also really loving the game
and not knowing how the two could work together.
There's been other players
that have tried to balance
professional football and motherhood,
and they weren't supported and had it really difficult.
The Tokyo Olympics had been pushed back with COVID.
I was living in Norway and I thought,
"You know what?
"I'm just gonna go to the IVF clinic and...and see what they say."
Um, so I booked an appointment,
and the day that I walked in,
the doctor was like, "Well, we can start today."
And I was kind of like, "You know what?
"I think this is what's meant to happen."
Day one of this journey.
I didn't really want to tell my family
because I didn't want anyone to talk me out of it.
And I didn't tell the team-mates that I was living in the house with
because, again, I didn't want them
to talk me out of it. because, again, I didn't want them
to talk me out of it.
In Norway, you don't get to choose the donor.
I knew that he was healthy and for me that was all that mattered.
Three weeks later, they had transferred the embryo,
and I was sitting on a flight back to Brisbane in the middle of COVID,
about to go into quarantine for 14 days.
And I felt really, really sick
and I was like, "Nah, surely not."
Like, "There's no way that I've fallen pregnant the first go."
LINDA: She got out of quarantine and she brings up this box.
I think it had booties in it. LINDA: She got out of quarantine and she brings up this box.
I think it had booties in it.
It had a pregnancy test.
I said, "Who...whose is this?"
(WOMAN LAUGHS)
(LAUGHS)
I went, "What the...?!"
I said, "What about your career?"
And she just looked at me.
I thought I could not bel... Like, it was not the...
I never even had an inkling.
I was like, "Well, do you know what? Maybe I'm just done with football.
"Maybe this, for me, is, you know, where I'm meant to be in life."
And I didn't really... I was playing for Brisbane Roar at that time.
I ended up playing until about 11 weeks pregnant.
I ended up playing COMMENTATOR: 2.5 minutes in,
and Katrina Gorry has produced
a trademark long-range strike
with the breeze at her back.
It was my 29th birthday.
I was watching the Olympics
and I actually thought I weed my pants.
and I actually thought And I was like, "Oh, that's awkward.
"Wait, does that mean I'm in labour?"
I had this amazing thought of how my labour was going to go,
and of course everything went wrong.
LINDA: It was a very tough birth. There was so much blood.
She had sort of haemorrhaged and then she was being sick as well.
She had sort of haemorrhaged I think because they are just so fit
and everything is so tense all the time,
their bodies just can't relax enough to deliver.
I remember as soon as I was holding Harper,
I'm like, "Mum, how did you do this five times?
I'm like, "Mum, how did you do this "You are an absolute weapon."
But, yeah, I knew from, you know, the day I held her in my arms
that, like, this is the thing that I had been missing.
Um, and, yeah, from...from the moment I got to take her home,
yeah, it was the best feeling in the world.
ANDREATTA: Once Mini had Harper,
she did everything to the T
to make sure her body was right,
to give herself the best chance to return to professional football.
As soon as I started running,
I just remember the feeling As soon as I started running,
I just remember the feeling of, like, I can run forever.
I just felt, yeah, I felt so different.
I felt like my body had almost been on reset and I could do anything.
Mum and I never discussed
how football was going to look in my life now with Harper,
or, like, who was going to take care of her
or, like, who was going when I was on the football field.
And, you know, when I got called in for the national team,
um, Mum was like, "Alright, I'm coming with you."
At that point, there had never been babies in the Matildas.
I missed you.
So, you know, there was so much for everyone to consider
So, you know, there was so much to make it happen.
(CROWD CHEERS)
Tony, the coach of the Matildas, (CROWD CHEERS)
Tony, the coach of the Matildas, had called me and said,
like, "We're going to support you through everything.
"Whatever you need, call us."
ANDREATTA: With his experience with the US women's national team,
he wanted to make sure that a player like Mini and Tameka Yallop
could continue their professional footballing careers
could continue their professional after becoming mothers,
and do it well without feeling after becoming mothers,
and do it well without feeling like they had to choose.
LINDA: Katrina had no partner
and I'm lucky enough LINDA: Katrina had no partner
and I'm lucky enough that I was able to help,
and I'm lucky enough so I'm there all the time.
And when Katrina was breastfeeding,
I was sort of down outside the change room.
So, we were always close by if Harper needed her.
Arrgh!
Linda is a big part of the Matildas family
as the Nonna supporting Mini to do what she does,
as the Nonna supporting Mini but also the Matildas team.
She's almost like my mum in camp.
Don't believe anything other than we fucking deserve that win.
Let's fucking enjoy. (ALL CHEER)
And welcome back, Mini. You are fucking amazing.
And welcome back, Mini. (ALL CHEER)
The first game back, I just remembered it being like,
"I can't believe you know, I'm back in the national team.
"I can't believe I'm, you know, still playing football.
"I can't believe I'm, you know, "And I can't believe
"that I've got a little girl on the sideline to support me."
I just remember kind of feeling untouchable in that game.
When she returned, the new Mini was this light, joyful, energetic player
When she returned, the new Mini was who was just living in the moment
and playing a game who was just living in the moment
and playing a game that she loved as a kid.
and playing a game It was a joy to see.
When Harper was six months old, we got on a plane
and off we went to Sweden.
I think the move to Sweden for Mini was a career progression.
I think the move to Sweden She wanted to play in...in Europe
and she knew that Vittsjo was a family-friendly club.
LINDA: Spent a lot of time crying,
but I knew she had to do it so it wasn't...
I would never have talked her out of it at all.
I just wondered how she was going to manage.
The first few weeks were definitely a blur for me.
I'm like...I remember sitting in the apartment being like,
"What have I done here?"
WOMAN: I played for Vittsjo eight seasons.
I was admiring her for taking this leap of faith WOMAN: I played for Vittsjo eight seasons.
I was admiring her for taking this leap of faith
to kind of leave her homeland with a six-month-old
and arrive in Sweden, not knowing what to expect.
I think I was very... I wanted to help her.
I think I was very... (TEAM-MATES SING)
She was the one that was helping us with a lot of things, you know,
making sure we got our visas, a phone number.
And I was kind of like, who is this girl and why is she being so helpful?
My coach asked me if I could pay for her parking
My coach asked me until that was sorted.
So, every night she had to text me where she was
so that I could fill... park her car in the app.
so that I could fill... I didn't know Swedish, obviously,
so I'd send her these random blue signs
and she would try and figure out where I had parked,
and she would try and figure out but she never told me.
Like, the street sign doesn't say the street on it
or anything like that.
I think I started liking her first. I don't think she saw those signs.
I liked her company a lot, and I loved Harper.
Finding someone was the last thing on my mind.
I just wanted to play football, enjoy my time with Harper,
I just wanted to play football, and completely focus on us.
Um, but yeah, that changed pretty quickly.
We had our suspicions that something was going on between them,
because any time they were together, they looked so happy.
We just got engaged before the World Cup, and I was very, very nervous.
She got down on one knee and I turned around and I was like, "Oh no. No."
She got down on one knee and I turned And she was like, "Is that a no?"
I'm like, "No, it's not a no. Of course it's a yes."
But um, yeah, I mean, it was just incredible.
And, yeah, our first night away from Harper and we got engaged,
And, yeah, our first night away so can't complain about that.
ANDREATTA: In that lead-up to the World Cup,
Mini was playing better than ever before. ANDREATTA: In that lead-up to the World Cup,
Mini was playing better than ever before.
Mini was playing Settled and happy off the field.
(CHEERING)
Let's welcome your Matildas!
Well, it's here. The FIFA Women's World Cup has arrived.
I thought it was going to be special,
but I didn't expect what actually happened to happen
in terms of the absolute mayhem support.
(ALL CHEER)
The more we progressed through the tournament,
the more people that were just outside our hotels.
It was just people everywhere talking about our games.
Like, it was.... I mean, it was just crazy.
The Matildas are preparing to take on France
in the World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
TRACEY HOLMES: So, this France game was so crucial.
TRACEY HOLMES: So, this France game If Australia could get through that,
they would progress to a point If Australia could get through that,
they would progress to a point they'd never been to before.
You've got all of that added pressure on you.
You've got all of that And here was this moment
and it was history. And here was this moment
and it was history.
It was history in the making.
COMMENTATOR: Straight down the throat of Mackenzie Arnold.
COMMENTATOR: Straight down (CROWD GROANS)
We said before the game
that we didn't want it to go into extra time.
But, uh, of course when you say it, it always happens.
COMMENTATOR: Nothing could separate Australia and France over...
Every muscle in our body was screaming at us to tell us to stop.
Um, and then when we went up into penalty shoot-outs,
uh, a lot of us don't have very good memories of any penalty shoot-out.
Stepping up, knowing the history,
that she had missed once before.
And that was the difference of going through or not going through.
COMMENTATOR: Enormous pressure on Katrina Gorry.
MARKSTEDT: To have it in front of millions of people watching.
I couldn't think of anything worse. MARKSTEDT: To have it in front of millions of people watching.
I couldn't think of anything worse.
She has to score
otherwise the Matildas are out.
I was freaking out. I was, like, beside myself.
I was watching but not watching and watching.
And Katrina Gorry
must score.
(CHEERING)
Had to get the monkey off my back and step up in a major tournament.
Had to get the monkey off my back And, yeah, I feel like I did that.
Cue the party!
That was great.
That's what we wanted to see. That's what we came down for.
We won! Yes!
I'm so freaking proud about this team.
The bravery that they showed tonight.
Unbelievable.
(CHEERING) (DRUMS BEAT)
But then it's weird.
Not long after that, you've got to think about the next game.
REPORTER: The Matildas have just taken to the field against England
in tonight's Women's World Cup semifinal in Sydney.
in tonight's Women's World Cup (ALL CHEER)
COMMENTATOR: And plays it through to Russo,
and Russo puts England into the World Cup final.
ANDREATTA: We lost the semifinal against England, 3-1.
But I think we did Australia proud because we didn't give up.
Of course we wanted to go further than fourth,
but we're so proud of what we achieved.
LINDA: After we lost in the World Cup,
Harper and I were the first one in the meal room
Harper and I were the first one and Tony was the second one.
So, you know, you could imagine what Tony was feeling.
So, you know, you could imagine And Harper grabbed his hand
and took him into the area where And Harper grabbed his hand
and took him into the area where he could...she could play with him.
And, you know, he had no choice but to go.
And, you know, And it just sort of shows you
what children and family can do to change,
what children and family you know, how everyone's feeling.
What toys... Do you not want to bring...
What toys do you want to bring, Harper?
This one.
No, but they're going to go on the other box,
so you need to pick some...
Our next big move is we're heading to West Ham United
to the Women's Super League, which is in the UK.
I think it's probably one of the biggest leagues in the world now.
Should we put him in there because we want to keep him?
Should we put him in there Yeah.
We've got some good memories Yeah.
We've got some good memories with him.
We've got some good memories It's exciting.
I've signed a multi-year deal there, It's exciting.
I've signed a multi-year deal there,
which is, yeah, it's going to be incredible.
I think for me it would be kind of where I probably end my career.
Look, who's this? Who's this?
Harper. No, that's Harer. But who's this?
So, we're pregnant. Having a little boy in June.
So, we're pregnant. The baby bee.
I just can't believe The baby bee.
I just can't believe it's happened the way it has.
Do you want a baby brother or a baby sister?
Oh, no. No?
I wanted to carry her embryo so then she could carry mine.
Um, just as, you know, it feels to us like
the closest thing you can come to being a part of both.
We obviously thought it was going to take
a little while longer than it did.
Um, but, yeah, we transferred my embryo to Clara, and it stuck.
Um, but, yeah, we transferred First go.
Harper is excited to have a sibling.
Uh-oh.
She's talked about how, you know, if the baby cries,
She's talked about how, what she's going to do,
and I know she's going to be the best big sister.
Crazy the fact that I'm going to have two kids at the Olympics,
Crazy the fact that I'm going hopefully.
We've got to qualify still first.
But I think we want a medal.
We've fallen short But I think we want a medal.
We've fallen short so many times and it's just...
Yeah, it's just driving us probably a little bit crazy.
I think this is going to be our year and I think we can really do it.
TRACEY HOLMES: They deserve a medal.
But even if they don't win one in Paris, we know what they've done.
Katrina and this group of Matildas
have changed Australian sporting history.
They have changed the way people in this country
think about women's sport and women's football,
and, um, yeah, there's no gold medal, uh, that can do that.
I want make-up.
Gonna get you.
You're gonna get me?
Are you gonna score a goal?
What are you gonna say when you score a goal?
Do you want something to drink?
Next time on Australian Story
when the worst thing imaginable happened to Michelle Turvey,
she chose love over hate.
I didn't want any more violence.
I didn't want hatred.
Captions by Red Bee Media I didn't want hatred.
Captions by Red Bee Media
Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation