When Nat Tathem succumbed to a serious knee injury last season, it paled in comparison to the challenges she has faced earlier in her life.
Whilst she doesn’t remember being born in an emergency birth, at 29 weeks, it has undoubtedly shaped the Brisbane Roar star’s fighting spirit.
“I was born 11 weeks early, at 900 grams. My twin sister (Shannon) was born at a kilo,” Tathem said.
“I don’t remember too much of the early days, I just remember I was stuck in hospital for a long time at the start in the oxygen tanks, trying to get me to grow as fast as possible.”
Presenting Episode 1 of Liberty Extra Time: Nat Tathem
Tathem’s earliest memories remain vivid. The challenges and persistence, right through to her Liberty A-League debut, provide an insight as to why – at age 26 – her best sporting years almost certainly lay ahead.
“I remember at three always falling over and scraping my feet, being uncoordinated. And my mum forcing me to jump on the trampoline every afternoon after school,” she said.
“I remember going to a lot of therapy building up my strength and coordination. After jumping on the trampoline everyday, I got put in a lot of sport.
“I was a lot smaller than everyone when I was younger, and me and my sister had to do kindergarten twice, so we were a year older than everyone. But once I started making friends, I felt like a normal kid.
“The biggest one, in grade 11 I got shin splints, and I didn’t want to stop playing – school, grade, rep football. It put me out for a long time, it was a crucial time in the football world so in grade 12 I had to take a step back, at 15, 16, when a lot of those players are breaking through in the Roar program. I played club (Olympic FC) those next two years and focused on Uni, and education. I didn’t make the W-League ‘til 19.
“That was (the biggest challenge) until last year, when I did my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). My team made the grand final, and it’s delayed my development. It’s helped me off the field.
“Accepting the injury and overcoming it is the biggest thing. So many people try and retrace their steps, (and ask) what could they have done differently? The mental space is probably the biggest thing to overcome.”
Victory coach Jeff Hopkins was gutted when his new recruit went down last season, having earmarked her for a key role in what proved to be a title-winning season.
“This was a cruel blow for Natalie and the team. Nat had only just joined us in the pre-season, she had slotted into the squad seamlessly and had done everything required to earn her spot in the starting line-up. Nat is a very resilient person,” Hopkins said.
Tathem said one of her best moments was her comeback game on January 2, when she came up against Victory at AAMI Park.
“My team down in Melbourne, getting around me, was one of the biggest things. They were around me from day one, and I was lucky enough to debut against my old team and they still all got around me even though we beat them that day (4-2),” Tathem said.
“The people around you is one of the biggest things. I relied on my physio a lot and the people around me.”
Tathem’s mum Dell Moss recalled how the first three years of her life were spent visiting occupational therapists and physios to get her movement better, with doctors initially suspecting low-end cerebral palsy.
It turned out to be low muscle tone, with Tathem’s determination doing the rest, starting with little athletics, then futsal and football.
“Shannon was quite stable but of course Natalie, being a trouble maker, was in and out of intensive care. She had lung issues and (the) cause of the problem of early birth because her muscles were at (the) lower end of cerebral palsy, her legs were stiff, so instead of being curled up in the foetal position, she was straight and pushing out,” Moss said.
“Once they started to move around it became apparent that Nat was struggling with her movement, bending her knees.
“She fell in love with football – first futsal then outdoor, playing in a junior boy’s teams, and just the sheer freedom of running around and kicking a ball and being physical that drew her to it.
“She just fell into it and loved it and that’s all we did every weekend for the rest of our lives.
“Anybody that meets Nat, she’s fiery and determined. That’s what got her through it – this little tiny thing that was so vulnerable. Spirit, determination, persistence. That’s carried her through as she’s grown, especially with a lot of those downers, most notably the last 12 months.
“She hasn’t been the most natural athlete but her dogged determination and hard work has got her to this level.”
Tathem’s extraordinarily positive attitude and free-thinking spirit has been the hallmark of her life and career.
“Being free-thinking and accepting anything can happen, not boxing yourself into one way of thinking, definitely helped rehab. One week may not go to plan, taking on board all the feedback. You’ll find another way,” Tathem said.
“I’ve always been pretty driven, if I want to achieve something, I do all I can to try and achieve that.
“I broke my arm for the first time (age) four, so I started well. Overcoming injuries, I’ve always enjoyed where I’ve been before I was injured, so getting back to that has been the main drive.
“I’m never happy with where I am, I always want to achieve the next thing, so that’s what keeps me going.
“I’m not good at taking no for an answer. It can be seen as stubborn, but I think it’s helped me in my football.”
Tathem has seen the A-League Women’s competition evolve and it excited about football’s future trajectory.
“It’s pretty unreal if I do think about it, back to my first season. We almost weren’t being paid to be there. We were doing it because we loved it, we were footballers who wanted to play,” she said.
“We barely had a changeroom, now we have a whole facility with a gym, recovery.
“If I think my first season was six years ago, I feel like I can’t imagine where we’ll be in six years because if you asked me that question six years ago, I wouldn’t have said we’ll have a World Cup, the Matildas will be at (this) level.
“It’s really exciting, especially for the young girls coming through now – the facilities, coaching, feedback from the analysis, which never used to be a thing.
“I can see our league growing, more people wanting to come back to Australia from overseas to strengthen our league, which will make all our Australian players better.”
