Brianna Davey, 17, was selected for the position late last year ahead of close friend and captain Melissa Barbieri, but the Port Melbourne student remains low-key about her achievements.

“I was in Melbourne Victory last year and also this year, and I’ve been training and involved with senior Matildas for a year or two now,” Davey says.

“It’s good, it’s a bigger step up from the junior national teams. It makes me see where I am against the best players in Australia, so I love it.”

Davey was playing backyard-style footy while on holidays when she was discovered by a soccer talent scout several years ago.

“I used to play AFL when I was a young kid, with a local club here called Port Melbourne Colts,” she says. “I didn’t start playing soccer until I was 12 or 13. I got picked up by a talent scout who saw me playing once at a caravan park where I go on holidays at Anglesea.”

In the years since, Davey has been training four times a week and playing every weekend.

She had anticipated needing to move somewhere regional and joining a smaller team to kickstart her career.

“Getting the number 1 at Melbourne Victory – it was an awesome season. It was a bit of a shock because I thought I was going to have to move interstate considering Melissa Barbieri was in the club,’’ Davey says.

‘‘But after that it was excitement and joy, especially since I didn’t have to go interstate and miss school and my family.”

This winter, Davey will spend time at the National Training Centre for the best players in each state. Last year she won the NTC player of the year.

“It was pretty awesome. That [player of the year] comes from the coach so it’s great she sees me as one of the players coming up,” she says. “It was definitely an exciting honour to win.”

Sporting talent seems to run in Davey’s family – her brother and two sisters are also sports fanatics.

“I’ve always really given every sport a go. I’ve played tennis and basketball as well,” Davey says. She has got her eyes firmly on travelling overseas, and has already competed in Thailand, Malaysia, Burma and Vietnam.

“Being in the Matildas has always been my goal, and I’ve nearly fully achieved that. Playing overseas is something I want to do – [in] England, Sweden and America.”