Reinvention, resilience keys to rebirth of Matildas star Alanna Kennedy

Now here she is, proving herself again; reinventing herself again, almost 15 years into her international career. Now she has played in every third of the pitch (“Yeah, just don’t put me out wide”), and moulded herself to whatever is required under whatever manager. A chameleon’s life isn’t for everyone, but Kennedy needs change to stay fresh – or get fresh if she’s feeling stale.

It is why she left Manchester City after three and a half seasons (“I probably wasn’t playing my best football and I just felt I needed a change”) and moved to Los Angeles, spending 2025 with Angel City (“a complete change of environment”), before returning to the UK to join new Women’s Super League side London City Lionesses (“an exciting club with exciting ambitions, and I enjoy London”).

And it is also why she is enjoying the shake-up of a new Matildas coach with a new philosophy.

“He’s very clear in how he wants us to play,” she says. “The structure allows a bit of freedom and movement across the back four, and I guess the holding six for me … I feel like we’ve needed just to add to our game a little bit, and hopefully it comes together well for us in this tournament.”

What was missing from the team’s game before, then?

“I’m not sure I can put my finger on what was … or even if something was missing,” she continues. “It’s just sometimes things run their course and you feel like you need something new, and I like to embrace change. I think change is always good. It’s something that has been refreshing and, for me personally, given me in my position more freedom to balance us a little bit as a six.”

Kennedy was still a centre-back for the last Asian Cup, in 2022. But India remains a sore point for an entirely different reason. Australia were bundled out in the quarter-finals by South Korea, with whom they drew 3-3 on Sunday night.

“If I ever look back on it, I always feel just disappointed,” she says. “It was almost just an opportunity missed, and it’s tough when you come up against a really good team in the quarters.”

Skip forward four years and the Matildas are about to face another really good team in the quarters, with North Korea lying in wait on Friday in Perth.

“But going into this tournament, mentally, we’re all in a really good headspace, and strong collective of wanting to really be together in this tournament and fight for each game to ensure that we’re not in a situation like that.

“It’s a huge moment for us, a huge moment in time. Being able to play at home, having fallen short in previous years … we’ve come really close and then we’ve also had some disappointing results in the past. So having all of our stars align at the moment, being in Australia, I think adds a lot to the experience. Hopefully that can be a fairytale ending for us and some silverware that we’ve been chasing for a long time.”

Wait, what does she mean by fairytale ending? Campbelltown’s favourite born-and-bred is not going to surprise us all and retire at 31? Surely we are not eulogising her career just yet? No is the answer, and followed by a playful threat that if anyone even tries she will get up from this table and walk right out of here. “Come on,” she says. “I’m a spring chicken.”

Kennedy is a spring chicken, but with 145 caps come the experience of a more, let’s say advanced, veteran. And some of that experience has, by necessity, built a solid foundation of resilience that serves her today. The injuries alone would send many players packing, and 2022 was a particularly bad time, with an injured hamstring, a fracture in her shoulder, a calf tear and a mystery knee problem that threatened her participation in what turned out to be an historic 2023 World Cup. All this, of course, followed that famous broken nose in Canberra (“I get sent that video all the time … there’s been a few black eyes since”).

Then there are the usual challenges every footballer deals with, but aren’t any easier just because they are common: spikes and dips in form, errors, red cards – that heartbreaking missed penalty at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

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“It’s all just part of the journey, you have to just embrace it,” Kennedy says. “When you put it like that, there’s obviously been a lot of ups and downs and a lot of adapting and adjusting to different positions or a different role. And the injuries, touch wood. But I think it does build resilience.

”Even since a couple of years ago I’ve learned so much about myself – even away from football. I mean, I don’t remember that version of myself. As much as I would have been present in the moment, I know that younger version of myself really wouldn’t have known what it took to win a tournament. Now, the experience that I have and the knowledge behind how to take care of myself better, the mental strength that it takes, the camaraderie within a team, and all these other factors that [previous] version of myself wouldn’t have known.

“It’s really cool to see the growth, but also to know that I am a little bit more experienced now, and with that comes a lot of strengths, I think.”