Polkinghorne to start in final Matildas game in Geelong

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Polkinghorne to start in final Matildas game in Geelong

Retiring Matildas great Clare Polkinghorne will start against Taiwan in Geelong in her 169th and final international appearance.

Polkinghorne enjoyed her send-off game, with a full celebration of her decorated career, against Brazil in Brisbane.

But interim coach Tom Sermanni will call on the legendary centre-back one last time in Saturday’s clash at GMHBA Stadium.

“Absolutely. It’s a Clare Polkinghorne game,” he said.

“So this was her last training session today, and it will be her last time she takes a field as a Matilda.

“So you can guarantee she will start the game.”

When asked about sending off the Brisbane great in Geelong, Sermanni quipped: “Speak to any Victorians – it doesn’t get any better than that for a Queenslander.”

It will be the 35-year-old’s final professional game, having already finished up at club team Kristianstads.

Polkinghorne’s selection is a logical one, given experienced defenders Clare Hunt and Charli Grant joined Alanna Kennedy, Steph Catley and Ellie Carpenter in returning to Europe.

She will probably play alongside Tash Prior while Winonah Heatley will likely start as holding midfielder or as a third centre-back.

“Any time that I can play next to Polks I’m very grateful for,” Heatley said.

It could well be Sermanni’s last game at the helm, given Australia don’t play again until February’s SheBelieves Cup in the US.

He is again set to field an experimental squad, following a 3-1 win over Taiwan in Melbourne.

“There will be some changes to the squad and some new players,” he said.

Sermanni also moved to clarify that his comments on Tuesday, when he said the Matildas hadn’t planned enough for the future, weren’t a shot at predecessor Tony Gustavsson, but a criticism of a “systemic” issue.

“I think that was perceived in some quarters to be a criticism of Tony, and I just want to really put out there – it had absolutely nothing to do with Tony at all,” he said.

“Tony came in here as the head coach of the Matildas, and that was his job, and he did an exceptional job in that role, and got the team to two semi-finals at major tournaments.

“The thing I was talking about has been a systemic issue that started in 2014 when the institute program shut down.”

He then added with a laugh: “So I just felt it’s important to clarify that – otherwise, when I see Tony again, he won’t buy me a beer.”

Sermanni was confident work was being done to amend the issue, but urged Football Australia and A-League Women clubs to have a “collaborative” rather than “combative” approach.

“We’ve tried to fix that obviously at this level, but it has to be fixed underneath as well,” he said.

“And there’s stuff being done, and there have been … people really doing some good things.

“I’m talking about as a sport altogether, we need to do that elite area a little bit better, because we used to do it really, really well.”

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