Kyra Cooney-Cross glances nervously into the barrel of the camera. The headphones she has been given are comically large, cupping her ears like woollen muffs as the chill of winter descends over Jubilee Stadium in Sydney. She allows herself to crack a small grin as her teammate and mentor, Lisa De Vanna, ghosts in behind her, tapping her protégé on the shoulder before drifting away into the night. Cooney-Cross turns to the microphone and takes a.
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Capped 130 times for Australia across her long and illustrious playing career - the third-most in Matilda history - Garriock is very familiar with preparing for big games.
As a player, the midfielder won a 1999-2000 Ansett Summer Series title with the NSW Sapphires and 2009 W-League crown with Sydney FC, club honours in Sweden and Denmark and Continental crowns with the Matildas in both Oceania and Asia.
“It’s the old cliche, that you treat [a Grand Final] like every other game but let’s be honest - it’s not like every other game,” Garriock said.
“As a coach, if I’m playing in the Grand Final, I’d be trying to keep the team as happy and as pleased. There are not too many tactics being fed to players, just tweaks - especially going into a Grand Final.
It was a night to forget but Melbourne Victory coach Jeff Hopkins believes a fearful hiding by Brisbane in January sparked his team's charge to the W-League grand final.
Melbourne Victory beat Brisbane Roar in W-League semi-final abc.net.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abc.net.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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The four-time W-League championship winner scored two and set up another, while Melina Ayres scored a second-half hat-trick, as Victory claimed a 6-2 win over Brisbane Roar in Sunday s semi-final to reach their first decider since 2014.
Jeff Hopkins team will now face the winner of Monday s semi-final between Sydney FC and Canberra United in next Sunday s grand final.
De Vanna scored in either half with Ayres s triple and another from Catherine Zimmerman capping a confident performance just days after losing the premiers plate showdown against Sydney FC.
New Zealand international Olivia Chance and Roar captain Tameka Yallop struck for the hosts, who were playing without key Matildas pair Clare Polkinghorne and Emily Gielnik following their departure to Swedish top flight club Vittsjo GIK.