Overview
Breaking TV viewing records, progressing further into the World Cup than any Australian soccer team before, smashing their way into the 2024 Paris Olympics: the Matildas are having a helluva 12 months. They're also getting a Brisbane statue, and inspired 'Matilda' to be chosen as 2023's word of the year. Add featuring in their second documentary in a year to the squad's achievements, too, with Trailblazers headed to Stan.
In 2023, docuseries Matildas: The World at Our Feet chronicled the current team's path to the 2023 Women's World Cup. In 2024, Trailblazers will take a broader look at the Tillies' story, and also at women's football in Australia. Sam Kerr, Steph Catley, Mary Fowler, Ellie Carpenter, Katrina Gorry and Teagan Micah all feature as interviewees — but chronicling the Matildas' journey before their current success is also the doco's aim.
If your obsession with the Tillies started in July 2023, this is your chance to dive into the first FIFA-recognised game in 1979, the team's 2015 strike for equal pay and its fortunes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics — and to reflect upon the the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, and the squad's qualification for Paris. So, you'll hear from and about earlier players, such as first-ever Matildas captain Julie Dolan, alongside Kerr and company.
The Matildas' first Indigenous female player Karen Menzies also features among the discussions, as do fellow past players Melissa Barbieri, Kate Gill and Moya Dodd. Tommy Sermanni, who coached the Tillies from 1994–97 and 2005–12, also gets chatting. And, so does ex-Socceroos captain-turned-commentator Craig Foster.
Stan will stream Trailblazers sometime in the lead up to the Paris Olympics, with an exact release date not yet announced.
Behind the scenes, Maggie Miles (Dare to Be Different) and Maggie Eudes produce, write and direct the documentary — aka your next chance to revel in all things Tillies. If you want to wear green and gold while watching, or the newly released (and soldout) purple Mackenzie Arnold goalkeeper kit if you got your hands on one, that's up to you.
Trailblazers is set to stream via Stan before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, which take place from Friday, July 16–Sunday, August 11. We'll update you when an exact release date for the documentary is announced.