Trading Brisbane for Melbourne certainly was a big move for Kaitlyn Torpey, but five games into the A-League Women season, the 21-year-old defender is loving life in City blue.
Living with a number of her teammates has eased the transition, while she’s also been surprised by what Melbourne as a whole has to offer.
“When I first came, I thought it was more of just a big city and that’s it, but we’ve found so many cool spots and I feel like there’s so much to see and do,” Torpey said.
“I’ve certainly been loving it so far.”
Seemingly every year one of the biggest talking points around the A-League Women competition is the length of the season, with teams often not producing their best football until late in the campaign due given it’s such a short season.
For Torpey and City, having so many players within the team living together and spending a lot of time around each other both on and off the pitch has helped the team click early on, and is certainly a contributing factor for why the team sits second on the table.
“I’ve just loved living with the other girls,” she said.
“There’s always so many people around and there’s always heaps to do.
“The girls are all so lovely and the fact that so many of us live together means we’ve created a great bond, which I think has also translated onto the field and helped us build some really good chemistry very quickly.
“The girls that aren’t living here are just as nice and just as welcoming, I think we’ve just got a great group of girls this season.”
Upon signing with City, Torpey noted a change of role and working under Head Coach Rado Vidosic as two of the key factors. His pitch to Torpey revolved around a positional change to a more attacking wing-back role, and with City playing a similar system to that of the Matildas, a big goal of Torpey’s, it was an opportunity that she’d jumped at.
Having started every game this season, it seems the change of role has been quickly picked up by the 21-year-old who’d in the past been exclusively used as a full-back.
“Previously I have been more of a defensive player,” she said.
“Last season I got a little bit more attacking which was fun, but I’d always had more of a defence-first mindset.
“I’m really enjoying adding a new aspect to my game, getting high up the pitch and having that freedom in attack.”
A ‘Torpeydo’ of a strike last Sunday saw her on the scoresheet for the first time in City blue and just the second time in almost 50 A-League Women appearances, but this is just the beginning as she continues to work on the attacking aspect of her game.
“I’ve really enjoying working with Rado and am looking to improve my composure in the final third,” Torpey said.
“I feel like I’m making the right runs and getting myself into good positions, but I’m lacking a little in the outcome, so I’m working hard to try and improve that as much as I can as the season goes on.”
From a team aspect, barring a 5-1 win over cross-town rival Melbourne Victory, Torpey said the team is still yet to reach its full potential, despite sitting second on the table. This is no doubt music to the ears of every City fan who is eager to see a return to Finals football and hopeful for more silverware to be added to the trophy cabinet.
“We are playing pretty well but I feel like we’ve just got so much more in us and I’m so excited to see that come out,” she said.
“We saw glimpses in that Victory game where we won a lot of individual battles, but I feel like we’ve still got so much more improvement left this season.”
Over the weekend it was announced that a pair of Torpey’s teammates, Holly McNamara and Winonah Heatley, had been called up to the Matildas Asian Cup training camp squad, an exciting moment for the duo, Torpey, and everyone else at City.
“It’s very motivating for me and the rest of the team to see that and know that the Matildas coaching staff are watching us very closely,” Torpey said.
“It’s super exciting and I just can’t wait to see how they go.”
Torpey and her City teammates will next be in action this coming Saturday when they travel to Coopers Stadium to take on Adelaide United. This clash will kick off at 5:05pm and you can tune in via Paramount+.
