Kaitlyn Torpey

Kaitlyn Torpey announced her arrival on the world stage in emphatic fashion with two brilliant performances for the Matildas at the start of 2024.

Defender Kaitlyn was called into the Australian team for home and away Olympic qualifiers against Uzbekistan. And wearing injured star Sam Kerr’s no.20 jersey, she was impressive in attack and defence in her debut game and then scored her first international goal and had a hand in three others in the second match, as the Matildas nailed down their place in Paris.

It was a frantic period for Kaitlyn – in the same week she received her Matildas call-up, she signed with the San Diego Wave for a record transfer fee.

But like all overnight successes, Kaitlyn’s rise to the Matildas had been a long time coming.

Growing up a sporty kid in Brisbane, Kaitlyn was a hockey player before she switched sports and began playing football at the age of nine.

In 2013, she scored 27 goals in 21 matches with Olympic FC’s under-13 side.

A product of the Queensland Academy of Sports, Kaitlyn made 43 appearances for Brisbane Roar, before signing in 2021 for Melbourne City.

In three seasons with City, she was awarded the 2023 Players’ Player award and was twice named in the PFA Team of the Season.

Kaitlyn made her first appearance with the Young Matildas in 2017 and had been on Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson’s radar for some time.

But her elevation to the senior national side only came after a change of attitude while watching from the stands during the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

"There was a point, maybe the most recent one was at the World Cup when I went and watched some of the games and I realised, 'OK, I actually really want this'," she said. 

"I mean, I've always wanted it, but it was a thing that just switched in my brain that I was like, 'I need this now and I need to push for it'.

"So that whole off-season I worked so hard to get to where I am. I improved physically a lot because of it, so when the chance came I was ready for the step up."

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Kaitlin and the Matildas faced Germany, Zambia and the USA in a tough Group B.

A tournament-opening 3-0 loss to Germany was followed by a dramatic 11-goal thriller against Zambia, where the Matildas came back from 5-2 down to win 6-5. Facing a must-win scenario against the USA to stay alive, the Matildas' tournament ended on another 3-0 loss.

Off the pitch, Kaitlyn does videography and photography and has produced interviews with her teammates for her clubs and the Professional Footballers Association.