Sat, Dec 07, 2024 page7

• Australia’s Prior making the most of second chance

  • Reuters, MELBOURNE
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  Natasha Prior was resigned to an unfulfilled career when she retired from soccer at 21 due to concussion, but the rejuvenated defender is now pinching herself after her rapid rise to Australia’s Matildas.

  Picked in Tom Sermanni’s squad last month after a strong season with the Newcastle Jets, Prior on Wednesday scored in her second international to help the Matildas to a 3-1 win over Taiwan in a friendly in Melbourne.

  Volleying a cross into the net in the 10th minute, Prior soaked up the cheers of a crowd of 28,000, enjoying a taste of the “Matildas mania” that has swept the country since their run to the FIFA World Cup semi-finals on home soil last year.

  

  Taiwan’s Su Yu-hsuan, left, and Natasha Prior of Australia vie for the ball during their game in Melbourne on Wednesday.

  Photo: AP

  Sharn Freier and Bryleeh Henry scored the hosts’ other goals at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, while Taiwan’s Chen Jin-wen scored in the 34th minute by capitalizing on a defensive error.

  “It’s been a long journey, but it’s also happened quite quickly,” Prior, now 26, told reporters after the game.

  Six years ago, Prior was taken from the field on a stretcher after sustaining a heavy blow to the head when playing for Canberra United. It was the most debilitating of a spate of concussions early in her career and ruled her out for the rest of the season.

  

  Taiwan’s Chen Jin-wen, left, eludes Charlotte Grant of Australia during their game in Melbourne on Wednesday.

  Photo: AP

  She made the tough decision to retire, saying that she did not want to end up with dementia at 30.

  Prior then embarked on a corporate career after graduating from university, joining Deloitte as a risk analyst, but she was lured back to the game, having a short stint with Sydney in 2021 before earning a contract with the A-League’s Jets last year.

  Dreams of playing for the country were rekindled when she attended some of the Matildas’ World Cup matches as a fan.

  “I remember sitting in the stands saying: ‘I want to be on the field. I don’t want to be in the stands,’” she said. “And that was kind of the motivation to put the boots back on properly and to focus on football, and start my A-League journey again.”

  She continues to juggle her second career in soccer with her consultancy work with Deloitte.

  She has timed her run into the Matildas well, with interim coach Sermanni keen to leave his permanent successor a new batch of players to consider in the run-up to the 2026 Asian Cup, which Australia is to host.

  Her father, Spencer Prior, a former Premier League central defender who finished his playing career in Australia, has undoubtedly helped along the journey.

  He was an assistant coach to Sermanni over a decade ago during the Scot’s second stint as Matildas’ coach.

  Natasha Prior will hope to get another starting role with Australia to play Taiwan in the second match of their series at Kardinia Park in Geelong today.

  “She plays with composure, authority, she’s got good defensive strengths, she’s mobile and she’s very good on the ball,” Sermanni said.

  “She’s actually got all the qualities her father never had as a player — and scored one more goal than he ever did,” he added.
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