Matildas combative centurion Katrina Gorry has taken up a new challenge in her globetrotting career, signing for English Women’s Super League outfit West Ham in a bid to rescue them in a relegation dogfight.
It will be the seventh country in which the 31-year-old mum has plied her battling trade, and the Australian World Cup star reckons it’s her biggest club test yet.
“The Women’s Super League is the league everyone is speaking about at the moment,” Gorry told West Ham TV after becoming the second Matilda in a week to complete a move to the WSL.
Like new Tottenham signing Charli Grant, who was at Swedish top-flight club Vittsjo with Gorry, the midfielder said with her move to London, she wanted to "challenge myself and play against and with the best players in the world.”
Having arrived in the capital with her two-year-old daughter Harper, Gorry, playing alongside another Aussie World Cup hero, goalie Mackenzie Arnold, faces the hugely difficult task of saving the Hammers from relegation.
The 105-times capped Gorry joins the club as they lie joint bottom of the table, having picked up only five points in 10 games all season.
Alongside bottom club Bristol City, West Ham are three points adrift of safety, with two clubs to go down.
Manager Rehanne Skinner sees the tireless and diminutive Gorry - nicknamed 'Mini' - as key to making West Ham much harder to beat, alongside fellow new signing, US national team playmaker Kristie Mewis, who is Chelsea superstar Sam Kerr’s partner.
“We wanted to add leadership to the squad and Katrina has this in abundance. With her wealth of experience in the domestic and international game, I have no doubt her professionalism will be an asset," said Skinner.
Gorry has represented Australia at six major tournaments, including an Olympics, and has played her club football in Australia, Canada, Japan, the US, Japan, Norway and Sweden.
Like teammate Arnold, she shot into the international spotlight with her considerable performances at the World Cup, where she made more tackles and covered more ground than any other player in the tournament.
Arnold, the Queenslander's friend since their Brisbane Roar days, was key to getting Gorry on board.
"There were a few questions I asked Macca and a couple of others that had been at the club before, and they all spoke highly," Gorry said.
"You can see with Macca how much her game has progressed over the last couple of years here. I think that shows what this club can do for players.
"I feel as though the club really spoke my language. It's a family club and I feel as though I've ended up in the right place."
