Bathurst talent Poppy Channing makes her debut for Junior Matildas

Channing, who currently plays for Blacktown Spartans, was called up to the Junior Matildas squad for a three-game series against South Korea on the Gold Coast.

After not featuring in the first match on October 30, she was ruled out for the second game due to sickness on November 2 before finally getting her opportunity to pull on the green and gold on Friday, November 4.

Channing said it was a fantastic opportunity.

"I felt a lot of pride because everyone knew I missed out on the last game because I was sick and I hadn't played at all," she said.

"Everyone was super excited for my debut. As soon as I was about to go on, I had a massive smile and my whole bench was like: 'Go Poppy!'

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"Everyone was super supportive."

Her battle with sickness was touch-and-go.

While she wasn't majorly unwell, she had to do a COVID test and remain in isolation, which meant she missed the 1-all draw with South Korea on November 2.

Thankfully she was cleared to play on the Friday.

"I was so upset. I started crying. But it was what it was," she said about possibly missing out on debut due to injury.

"I just had to try my best, to make sure I was ready for the next game.

"I had a feeling I was going to play. I was foam rolling, I had to go for a 20 minute walk in my apartment. I kept walking from the door to the balcony."

Channing was named in the Junior Matildas squad back in October, as she trained and played her game on the Gold Coast.

The Bathurst High student said it was an amazing experience to be a part of the squad.

"It was really good. We had our own drink bottles and the subs had their own esky," she said,

"The training was really good, really high quality. There was a lot of staff.

"We had two physios, a coach, assistant coach, Holly the equipment manager. There was a lot of people.

"It was really fast tempo. Everyone wanted to be there, so everyone was trying their hardest."

Having previously played for Bathurst '75, Western NSW FC and Nepean FC, Channing said the training camp was a massive step up from even her own club of Blacktown Spartans.

"It's a massive step up. Even at Blacktown, there's a mix group of different abilities, which is the same at the national team, but everyone is really strong," she said.

"Everyone is technical, everyone is fast. At Blacktown and NPL 1, not everyone is as fast and well-rounded.

"They have their own strength and weakness but in the Australia team, everyone was well-rounded."

It was also an awesome opportunity for Channing and her teammates to make friends with their opposition.

"We made friends with the South Koreans. We got to talk to them and we went to Korean barbecue with them. That was my first time having proper Korean barbecue," she said.

"I learnt some of their language and we went to a zoo at Currumbin. It was cool to experience their culture."

The Junior Matildas have a roster of 30-40 players, which they will rotate in the coming months, with two more camps planned in the new year.

Channing will be working towards being selected in the squad that travels to Mongolia for the AFC Under 17s Women's Asian Cup qualifiers in April, which will include games against Bhutan, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) and Mongolia.

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