Mary Fowler is back in green and gold, stronger than ever

One of the biggest stars in Australian sport, Manchester City forward Mary Fowler hasn't had the easiest time since her starring role in the CommBank Matildas' headline-grabbing 2023 home World Cup campaign.

Fowler says being forced out with injury last year provided some unexpected room to reflect and grow. Now fully fit, she's ready to relish her return to  green and gold in the AFC Women's Asian Cup.

Mary, thank you so much for joining us at CommBank Newsroom. How is it being back in the CommBank Matildas camp?

I’m really excited to be here. You know, I think being out for the last nine and a half months, I didn’t know if I would get back in time. So just really grateful to get this opportunity. And I think it just makes me even more grateful for all the people that have helped me along my rehab journey. Because I wouldn’t be back if I didn’t have that support.

How are you feeling at the moment? Are you feeling fit and ready? Ready to fire?

Yeah, I actually feel really good. You know, I think after getting my first minutes against Chelsea, I then had a few little bumps along the road, so I missed a couple of games. But then on the weekend I got to get my first start. So that was really good for the confidence and really good to just see how the body feels during a game, but also pulling up afterwards.

So yeah, I feel good being in here. And I think the heat’s really going to help, because, you know, half the issue’s my knees being frozen. So just excited to be out there.

That Manchester weather is so tough.

Don’t recommend it.

You’ve said that during your ACL recovery that it has reignited a passion for football. Can you talk me through that process? Why was that?

Because I’ve been playing football for so many years, it becomes such a routine. I think it’s easy to lose the joy in it when you’re just doing the same thing over and over again. And I think not having heaps of time off makes it harder to stay as fresh and energetic, coming into work every day and trying to perform.

So I think for me, whenever I’ve had time away from the sport, it’s always given me a fresh perspective on how lucky I am to be playing it and doing it as a job. So having this time out, it’s allowed me to just mentally also have a bit of a break.

And I think in rehab as well, you’re so focused on the details of being a footballer rather than the game and performing.

And I really enjoyed that, just appreciating how much my body does for me on a daily basis that I would not really recognise. But because I’ve had to go through all these small movements and tick those boxes, it’s just opened my eyes to so many little things my body does, and it’s made me more grateful for that.

So yeah, it’s been great. Like the girls at City. I love being around them as well. And so since coming back, everyone’s just been so excited for me and that’s been heartwarming as well. I think I’ve just had a good nine months out of it where I’ve been able to switch off from football and enjoy stuff outside of it as well. And now I just feel really ready to be back in it.

You’ve been rediscovering a lot of the Manchester cafes because you love your coffee, don’t you?

I love my coffee. I mean the weather makes it hard to do a lot of stuff outdoors. So cafés ended up being a bit of a lifeline for me where I just get out, get a bit of social time, but also just stay awake because it gets dark at like 3pm.

Well, you’ve got a fantastic barista here as well.

I know, it’s been great.

Let’s talk about the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. During your ACL injury recovery, did that serve as a huge incentive and motivation?

I think like when I first got injured, there were thoughts about potentially not making it back in time for that. But to be honest, I think after that, I just started enjoying things outside of football. I didn’t really pay it much mind.

I think I really enjoy working with the physios at City because they’re really transparent about the fact that rehab can take longer than you expect. It can have different challenges at different stages of that process. And I think just keeping it really open and honest helped me because I was like, I just have to take it week by week. And I might go really well in one phase of the rehab and then potentially struggle in another.

So from the get-go, I was like, I just want to be back feeling 100 per cent. I don’t want to put a timeline on this and then feel like I’ve rushed my rehab. So I feel really happy that it’s just worked out that I’ve been able to do both — where I’ve been able to come back feeling like I am 100 per cent and I have taken enough time to heal properly, and that it’s also happened to be in time for the Asia Cup.

So definitely in the last couple of months where it’s been getting closer, I was like, oh, this is getting close. I could be back for it. And that was a little bit stressful at times because I was like, oh, I feel like I’m trying to rush that. But again, it was just really nice to be around people who could steady me and put my best interests first.

So yeah, it’s just happened to work out, which was great.

During that time you also released a new book. Why was it so important to share your story?

I think for me, mental health has been a really big learning point. Especially in the last five or so years, it’s been something that I’ve struggled with, but then have also found a lot of support in trying to understand myself better and be able to look after my mental health in a better way.

It’s something I’ve really connected with because a lot of people around me have also struggled with that. And I just started to do quite a bit of research on it, just to try and understand myself a bit more. And when I saw a lot of the statistics around mental health, it felt quite reassuring that there are a lot of people out there that felt similar ways. But it also struck a chord for me where I was like, there’s so many people that are struggling with this, and I never really heard that many people talk about it before.

So I just thought that with my platform, and with the knowledge that there are a lot of people struggling — and I think a lot of young people struggling in particular — I thought it would be worthwhile if my book was able to get into the hands of even one person who might read it and think differently about their own life. Because it definitely helped me in my own journey to hear other people share their story.

I was like, I don’t want this to sound like it’s an autobiography — “read all about Mary Fowler” — because I couldn’t care less really about sharing that.

But I think a lot of people would want to read that though.

But I think it just wasn’t really my intention to create a book like that. I’ve never asked about the sales or anything because that’s not really why I released it. It just felt like it helped me in understanding my own journey.

Was it therapeutic for you?

It was. I think just being able to articulate my own experience in words that I felt were true to my experience.I think that was really therapeutic, because I think that’s a big challenge for a lot of people. They want to say how they’re feeling and tell someone about their experience, but they can’t find the words to properly describe that.

So having to write about it gave me the space to write something down, think about it, see if that felt right, and then read about other people’s stories and see if maybe those words felt better in describing my experience.

So yeah, it’s been nice. It was a great experience. It lined up well with my injury, gave me something outside of it to do. So I’m proud of what it ended up being.

During the 2023 Women’s World Cup, you became a household name - one of the most searched people in Australia. With the Women’s Asian Cup on home soil, there’ll be plenty of attention again. Do you feel better equipped now to manage the pressures?

I think I’ve definitely gotten better at minimising pressure because I just don’t make things a big deal. I think players work differently with that. For me, just treating games like they’re just another game helps me not feel like there’s any pressure.

After playing in the World Cup on home soil, that was such an amazing experience. After that tournament I got more consistency at the club. Then we had the Olympics and it was a bit of a disappointing tournament, so I’d say I probably learned a lot more from that one. But the following season, I felt like I took a lot of that growth into that season and felt like I had my most consistent season as a player.

So yeah, training became so much more important. I put so much more value in putting full effort and attention into training so that come game day, I don’t really feel nervous anymore because I just trust what I’ve done during the week.

That’s come with years of trying to figure out what works best for me. And I think it’s also grown in the same direction I’ve grown as a person off the field. I’ve become much more comfortable in who I am, and I just don’t like having too many really big highs. I like being content with things. That works really well for me.

So viewing games as just another game and not making a big deal out of it helps me stay at this nice level of feeling content and focusing on being grateful for what’s in front of me.

So measuring your own expectations?

Yeah, pretty much. That’s a short way to say it.

There was Matildas mania three years ago. It would be nice to see that again. Does the team thrive off that? Is it a source of motivation?

Yeah, definitely. At the World Cup, it took quite a few of us by surprise how many people really got behind us. When you put the jersey on, you know you’re playing for the country. Sometimes you have to find your own connection to the country and why you’re doing it.

But at the World Cup, seeing how many people were showing up for us, it was just right in front of your face that you’re playing for the country. And that definitely fuelled us a lot more because it felt like you were out there for something bigger than yourself.

So I don’t know what to expect at this tournament. It would be amazing to experience some of the same feelings that we had during the World Cup. But everyone loves playing in front of a home crowd, so we’re pretty lucky to have another tournament here.

Now we just spoke about measuring expectations, but what are your ambitions and goals for this tournament?

I mean, I think everyone comes into it wanting to win. But I personally just don’t like getting ahead of myself. In tournament football, things can change so easily. Teams you don’t expect to do very well can turn around and beat teams that are expected to win.

So you kind of just have to prepare for every game in the same way and just remain humble. There’s always something to take out of each game. For us, that means focusing on the Philippines for now and doing that as best as we can to prepare for it. And then after that game, we go from there.

So one match at a time.

Yeah. Very big on not being too loud about your ambition.

The whole of Australia is behind you. Best of luck for the Women’s Asian Cup.

Thank you. I appreciate it.

For media: Download CommBank Newsroom's interview with Mary Fowler