Mary Fowler expressed that she’s feeling settled in the CommBank Matildas as she hopes to carry her superb club form for Manchester City into the national team.
Fowler is an important member of the playing squad that is gearing up to take on Germany and Switzerland in the October international window.
The 21-year-old told Football Australia Media that her comfort in her surroundings helps bring her best football to the fore.
“I do feel quite settled,” she said.
“I think there’s a balance with that. I want to feel comfortable in the environment, but I don’t want to feel like it’s a given. I think that keeps me in form.
“I don’t want to ever take it for granted that I’m here, but I do feel very settled here, and I think that’s important to feel in order for me to bring my best football forward.”
She has spent so much time in the national team environment since her debut as a 16-year-old in 2018 that she joked she sees her teammates more than her family.
“I said it to Lans [Alanna Kennedy] during the week at club - I was like, it’s actually crazy how much we spend time with each other,” she said.
“We spend more time with each other than our families. Coming back into camp it was like, you hadn’t seen these people for a while, but you spent so much time with them.
“It was nice to catch up again, and things just clicked back into place so quickly.”
The last time that the group was together was during Paris 2024™. The games did not go as planned, something that Fowler said she had spent time reflecting on before her club season began.
“For me personally, I do like to make peace with that, reflect about it,” she said.
“I do that through writing, so I wrote about it a bit. More from a personal standpoint – what I thought I did well, what I thought I would’ve liked to have done better. Just kind of tried to take some learning from that whole experience.
“But also reflect on it, so I can also appreciate the good things in that experience. It’s the Olympics, and being there is such an amazing thing. I know my younger self would’ve been so proud of me being there a second time.
“For as much as it was a really disappointing tournament, it was also something that I wanted to look back on and be proud of me being there.
“The main thing I’ve taken from it is just a lot of growth, which I feel like has helped me and my form from the start of the season at club land.”
Touchdown in Switzerland 🛬
🇨🇭v🇦🇺 26.10.24 - 5:00am AEDT
🇩🇪v🇦🇺 29.10.24 - 4:10am AEDT
📺💻📱: @ParamountPlusAU #Matildas pic.twitter.com/zaFCbxOTra— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) October 21, 2024
Fowler has started her club season for Manchester City on a high. She has started 3 of their 5 WSL games, scoring and assisting in that time, as well as scoring a UEFA Champions League winner against St Polten.
She said that the positive environment at City has contributed to her good form.
“We just have such a lovely group of girls at City,” she explained.
“It’s always nice being able to go in every day and just enjoying it because of the people you’re working with.
“Football is almost a plus, the extra bonus to that, because first and foremost you’re with people. It’s a team sport, so you want to have that good energy in the environment. I’m really lucky to have that there and I think it’s helped us on the field this season.
“It’s been good, I’ve enjoyed it. I always enjoy my football when I’m having fun on the field, so I’ve had fun so far.”
Achieving the team’s goal of competing in the UWCL is something that the group is immensely proud of.
Fowler understands the significance of the competition – and the importance ot being able to inspire the next generation while playing.
“For me, when I think about the Champions League, I do more relate it to the men’s game and that’s what makes me feel like it’s such a big thing,” she began.
“Which is why I think it’s so nice now that girls growing up playing football now, they can watch us.
“That’s the cool side of it, you’re kind of making history as time’s going on, because the better you’re doing, the more it’s going to grow, and the more girls that get to look up to these players that are playing in Champions League.”
As she continues to grow into her football, she has been focusing on being able to consistently perform week in, week out.
For this window, she hopes that the team will be able to bounce back from last time and perform well against Switzerland and Germany.
“There’s a lot of motivation within the group to want to come and – not make a point, but I think for a lot of people on a personal level, just want to be doing better than what we did when we were last together,” she said.
“But at the same time it’s our first camp with a new coach and often it does take time for new systems of play to settle in and for people to gel within that system.
“I think we still go out to both these games wanting to win and we have the team to be able to do that, so that’s what’s on my mind.
“But it’s just nice to be back together and to have some fresh ideas, and as the camp goes on we’ll be able to learn more about that, and put things into place to give ourselves the best possible chance to get a result.”
COMMBANK MATILDAS | OCTOBER 2024 INTERNATIONALS
Switzerland v CommBank Matildas
Date: Friday, 25 October 2024 (local) / Saturday, 26 October (AEDT)
Kick-off: 8.00pm CET (local) / 5.00am (AEDT)
Venue: Stadion Letzigrund, Zurich
Broadcast: Paramount+
Tickets: Ticketmaster (Switzerland)
Germany v CommBank Matildas
Date: Monday, 28 October 2024 (local) / Tuesday, 29 October (AEDT)
Kick-off: 6.10pm CET (local) / 4.10am (AEDT)
Venue: Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena, Duisburg
Broadcast: Paramount+
Tickets: DFB Ticket Portal
