It should not come as a surprise seeing Kyah Simon excel at domestic and international level.
Though perhaps it should be considering the amount of setbacks the 28-year-old has had to endure throughout her career.
A broken leg, a ruptured ACL, shoulder and ankle reconstructions and hamstring issues – the latter of which saw her miss the recent World Cup in France – are only some of the injuries the Matildas forward has had to overcome since breaking on to the scene as a teenager.
While it was the hamstring injury picked up in May 2019 at a training camp in Turkey which hit the hardest – it was perhaps Simon’s most important setback.
The Matildas forward was forced to change the way she went about things in recovery, previously “played catch-up” to be fit for major tournaments or the beginning of a new season which would only exacerbate her injuries.
“The approach has been quite different this time around the patience of Melbourne City and the Matildas has been amazing for me,” she said.
“[I’m] obviously reaping the benefits of being a bit more precautionary in the early stages of rehab, taking it one step at a time and not thinking guns blazing too early. I think I’ve consolidated a good amount of training and conditioning in my body and the form hopefully can improve.
“There’s always been something to be chasing or to play catch up or racing against the clock to get to a tournament or a season of some sort.
“That was a blessing in disguise that people put the breaks on me and took more time put my body first and not be like a kid in the candy store and do it right this time.
“It’s definitely taken me a long while to just be smarter with things and I’ve obviously got the raw end of the deal with some of those decisions out of my control. You just have to take the lows with the highs and highs with the lows, but that is what sport is all about as well.”
Her integration back into City’s W-League side has been a steady one, making seven starts since returning in November and playing just the one full match.
Her ability to represent both the Matildas and City in the same week was a positive side, with Simon expected to be a key contributor for both sides ahead of a busy schedule.
Melbourne City can clinch its second W-League premiership with a draw against the Western Sydney Wanderers on Thursday, with the side then set lose up to nine players due to international break ahead of the finals series.
“Knowing the tough period I did go through personally in the last year or two and now to be doing my part for the team and to be out on the field with no injury clouds, enjoying my football again is the main thing for me,” she said.
“My main priority is loving football and enjoying football, l playing freely being out there with the girls. You can’t really put a price on that.”
