Hard & Fast: Football Ferns vs Matildas, June 4th/7th.
'Oi, where's the Aussies!?'
Our Football Ferns will take on Australia's Matildas in June as both teams ramp up their preparations for the Rio Olympics.
On June 4 (a Saturday) our Ferns will take on the Matildas in Ballarat, Victoria before the Ferns and Matildas will again face off the following Tuesday at Melbourne's Etihad Arena.
The second game will serve as a curtain-raiser for the Socceroos game against Greece and it's being hyped as the Matildas' farewell ahead of their departure for Rio.
This is great news, not only from a Ferns fan perspective but from a football fan's perspective in this part of the world.
The opportunity to see our Ferns take on the Matildas is awesome and it furthers a trans-Tasman rivalry between the two teams. There's no reason why these trans-Tasman fixtures can't be a regular occurrence, especially with our Ferns continuing to improve to the point where they can be genuinely competitive with the world's 5th ranked women's football team.
Any chance to see our Ferns in action is great.
Any chance to see our Ferns in action close to home, is great.
Any chance to see our Ferns up against Australia, is great.
What I also like about this is that it's front and centre for NZ Football to observe.
Sure, having an international double-header in Aotearoa involving the Ferns and All Whites would be ideal. Unfortunately, we are back at square one with NZF so there's nothing wrong with watching and learning how the jokers across the ditch are developing football in a competitive sporting market.
Both games will be broadcast live in Australia; I wonder if our favourite broadcaster will even bother?
We're at square one, remember.
Our ladies have been busy...