Stingrays talent receives Young Matildas call-up

Just a week after she inked a fresh deal with Canberra United for the next A-League Women's season, the versatile talent has been called up for the latest Young Matildas camp in Sydney.

Gordon said Grove deserved the opportunity to make an impression after a strong NPL NSW Women's campaign for the Stingrays.

"There's nothing of her, but she's got a big engine. And like (Danika) Matos and those type of players, she's very disciplined with all of the little things that she does," Gordon told the Mercury.

"She's a good young kid and has a good reading of the game, and her work ethic is sensational. She played right-back for the Young Matildas when they went overseas and she's been playing higher up for the park for us and been doing a good job. We actually played her at right-back last week and it was like a duck to water, she fell into it quite nicely.

"But she's very professional. She's one of those good young kids who is switched on and everything that she does, she does it to a tee to give herself every chance of succeeding. And that's what we try to install with the younger girls coming through at the Stingrays."

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Young Matildas head coach Leah Blayney named a 28-player squad for a six-day training camp which started this week. It provides an opportunity for a crop of uncapped youth representatives players to showcase their talent as preparations continue for the 2024 AFC U/20s Women's Asian Cup in Uzbekistan.

Blayney said she was excited by the opportunity to see some new faces in the national team environment.

"Qualification for next year's tournament now provides us with some valuable time to search the nation for additional players who can be beneficial to our campaign in Uzbekistan," she said.

"As the Matildas' achievements at the FIFA Women's World Cup have shown, there are some incredibly talented young players in Australia and the future is bright. We want to give them the chance to continue developing their qualities in a high-performance environment with staff who deeply care about their progression."

"It's also an opportunity for further team cohesion for those players who have been with us consistently since last September. Another focus for us is constructing tactical flexibility within the team as we build towards the AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup.

"A chance to impart and embed our principles early is one we want to fully utilise."

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