From Cairns to the Scudetto: ‘I just knew I wanted to play football’

Games in regional Australia were a core staple of the Matildas home schedule prior to the Women’s World Cup.

Townsville, Wollongong, Ballarat, Geelong, Coffs Harbour, Lismore, and Bendigo have all hosted the Matildas since the year 2000.

Those trips are starting to become few and far between rather than a staple as the team grows in popularity, and are selling out stadiums in capital cities around the country instead.

But there’s still room for the regional trip, as evidenced multiple times in the last 12 months, with a game in Bunbury, WA, as well as games in Gosford, NSW, and Newcastle, NSW.

For Wini Heatley, who was born in Cairns, the importance of the Matildas continuing to play games outside of capital cities is not lost on her.

“Being someone from regional Australia myself, just having visibility and being able to… there’s that saying of you can’t see it, you can’t be it, and I definitely think that’s so true,” Heatley said.

“Being able to see in the flesh female players that are doing what you want to do and being able to see some sort of vision of what you want to do with your life is really important.

“I think a lot of girls that came before me never had that. They had no idea what it would look like.

“So I think that playing here [in Newcastle] and in other regional places is so important for that.”

Heatley now plies her trade in Serie A for AS Roma after stints at Brisbane Roar, Växjö DFF, Melbourne City, and Nordsjælland.

Since joining Roma on a three-year deal in 2025, the side has won both the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto in the 2025/26 season.

For Heatley, getting to play in a top level European league and lifting trophies does not feel real to her.

“If I told mini me that I’d be doing that, I probably wouldn’t have believed that because of what I touched on before. I had no idea what a career in football would look like at all,” Heatley said.

“I just knew that I wanted to play football.

“It’s pretty incredible when I take a step back, but oddly, like, when you’re here, it’s just the next natural progression, so it doesn’t feel crazy or out of the ordinary.”

As the journey towards the 2027 Women’s World Cup continues, the Matildas will continue to be an inspiration for young footballers around the country, and depending on how the games fall in the remaining windows beforehand, some more games away from the capital cities might be on the cards.

Listen to the latest episode of The Dubcast, Round Ball Australia’s Women’s Football podcast, on Spotify, Apple, or watch on YouTube, with new episodes weekly.