Matildas' giant step forward

Australia's two senior national teams were in action over the past three days and while one has obvious work to do, the other is once again capturing the attention and affection of an increasingly appreciative nation.

The stars of the Matildas celebrate their progression to the knockout stage of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. (Getty) Source: Getty Images

It's happened again. Australia has fallen in love with our Matildas thanks to all of the qualities we love about them, and which make them formidable.

Their collective spirit, togetherness, ability, determination and aggressive approach.

They've gone at three excellent teams - USA, Nigeria and Sweden - and while two of the three gave as good as they got for long periods, the Matildas maintained their discipline and strong mentality to prevail through the group.

A word first, though, on the former Matildas on our SBS panel for the matches: Jo Peters and Sally Shipard.

It is wonderful to see a major tournament being covered by an all-female team of very high quality, including of course, host Lucy Zelic.

As much as this should, hopefully, be a breakout moment for the Matlidas to go beyond the quarter-final stage and prepare to win the World Cup in the near future, it has also become a great step forward for the broadcasting of the women's game here at home.

All three have been excellent. Discussion has been in depth, emotional, passionate, questioning, fair and honest and I have enjoyed every minute.

As I said on The World Game last Sunday, Les and I used to cover the Women's World Cups in order to show respect to the women's game, to show there is no difference to us between the UEFA Champions League final and a Matildas match, however the goal was always for our former champions to inherit the coverage.

These three have demonstrated very clearly, that our women are better at covering the game.

They know the ins and outs of women's football, the nuances and personalities, the issues and challenges and are unafraid to express their views as the women's game here grows in stature and importance.

Joey Peters is an A-Licence coach with an outstanding insight into the game and the ability to express these on air, and Sally Shipard is just a gorgeous human being. She lights up the screen with that great smile, and her love for the game and the team adds to the emotion around the Matildas' journey.

Whereas Joey makes me want to sit down for a coffee and chat football with her, Sally makes me want to give her a big hug, and say everything will be alright. That's a great combination.

There are many others, of course. Cheryl Salisbury is excellent, as are Sarah Walsh, Elyse Perry and many that have featured on SBS through the years.

One reason I hope the Matilda's go all the way or at least a very long way in the tournament, is to give these three the greatest opportunity to show Australia how women's sport should be covered.

Ideally the commentary should be entirely female as well - this will happen as debate opens up around the issue - but for now Dave Basheer brings his expertise to the matches along with the superb Heather Garriock, a great duo.

Alen Stajcic had a plan against Sweden and followed it under pressure by bringing on two attackers to continue to cause problems rather than merely close up in defence and hang on. Kudos to him.

This is consistent with the national approach we've long desired, and so it is important that Alen and the team were rewarded for their decisions, to further fuel discussion and acknowledgement of the cultural progression.

The girls can certainly overcome Brazil. As former Asian champion and now runner-up, there is no longer anything to fear. They will approach the match with determination and focus and we can't wait.

The Socceroos, meanwhile, were evidently very rusty in an out-of-season period and will need to be better in future, albeit not necessarily against Bangladesh in September.

The problem faced will be a common one. A deep defence with a strong counter attack and by coach Ange Postecoglou's own admission, the team did not deal with this well at all, .

They rushed passes into a very compact and well organised opposing midfield, which was positioned well to break at speed.

This gives Ange and the team an opportunity to deal with the problem and be stronger next time, at a higher level.

Tommy Oar's involvement changed the game and it was good to see a different player, one that has had an oscillating Socceroos career, step forward to make the difference, aided skillfully by Matty McKay on the left.

But now it is all about the Matildas. They're Australia's darlings. Every network is reporting their progress, and this will accelerate in the next round. I noticed yesterday on ABC News 24 a female journalist discussing the match with exactitude, talking about the game with a very sound understanding.

A great sign that the game has become part of the national fabric.

This tournament will spark renewed debate about the relative inequality in pay and conditions, already mentioned by Kyah Simon, and make the game and the nation confront how we treat our female sporting champions.

There used to be inequality in broadcasting, as well. But, no longer.

Years ago, there was a token female on the panel. In future, if any of us gents appear, we will rightly be nothing but a token male.

Our women have inherited their own game.

A marvelous step forward.