It started as two nervous teens on a field in Canberra, but Annabel Martin has had a front-row seat to watch Cortnee Vine become one of the Liberty A-League’s biggest stars.
I really got to know Cortnee Vine as our bus crawled through the streets of downtown Mandalay in Myanmar. But a friendship that has developed from a pitch in Canberra through to cinemas in Melbourne tells me everything about why she will be a crucial figure in Sunday’s Liberty A-League Grand Final – and will almost certainly be playing at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in a few weeks’ time.
Watching Cort lead Sydney FC’s efforts to break down Melbourne Victory in last weekend’s Elimination Final, I had a chance to reflect on how far she’s come since we both pitched up at the U17 National Training Centre tournament at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra in 2015.
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It was the first year they decided to mix the state teams for the final two days – I played for Victoria and Cortnee was Queensland, but we ended up being on the same team. In fact we were basically the only two non-NSW players on the team, and despite barely speaking to one another beforehand it was nice to have someone to pair up with in warm up drills and secretly ask questions when we had no idea what was going on, or where we had to be at what time.
The biggest thing that stood out for me was her pace – some of the quickest girls in the country were there but she made them look slow. “Thank god she’s on my team,” was my first thought when I saw her play.
A year or so later and I’m sitting on a window seat on the Young Matildas bus having just arrived at Myanmar Airport for the AFF Championships.
A few girls know each other but basically you only talk to those from your state — at least for the first few days. Then a girl who I vaguely recognise sits next to me, and I realise it’s Cortnee.
I’m quite shy and reserved with new people, and I remembered Cortnee being a bit the same. This time though she’s got this big grin spread across her face and she chews my ear off for the entire bus ride to the hotel. By the time we arrive I feel like I know her whole life story.
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She quickly became one of my closest friends on the trip and for many trips to come. She was just someone you wanted to be around. Her energy was infectious, just like it is on the field.
She makes those around her walk taller; you know if you put a through ball anywhere in her vicinity, she’s going to get to the ball first and create something special.
But there was another quality that made her one of my favourite teammates – simply, how hard she worked on the training track and in games. Don’t let the smile fool you, she’s as competitive as they come, and will always back herself in any situation no matter how many defenders are between her and the goal.
Being a typical striker she loved to get her name on the scoresheet, and worked tirelessly for that to happen as much as she could. But what often goes unnoticed is the amount of unrewarded running to get any ounce of pressure on the opposition. When she isn’t winning the ball herself, she’s making it much easier for her teammates to pick it up — something that was very much rewarded within our four walls and I’m sure it’s the same within Sydney FC.
But it wasn’t just her on-field ability that made her one of my favourite teammates – there’s also how much fun she was off the pitch and how much genuine care she had towards everyone (so long as you don’t spell her name wrong).
She was always one of the first people to check in on her teammates, and make sure that they were okay, which meant a lot when we were all away from our families in another country.
Other times we’d be exhausted from training and just wanted to lie down. No chance – Cort just had this ability to come in and spark us all back to life and get the whole team laughing non-stop over the silliest things.
When we’d gather together before meals or meetings she’d have music blaring through a speaker and be dancing by herself to keep everyone entertained whilst we waited for the whole team to arrive. I remember the coaches trying to get her to save her energy for training and games, but there was no slowing her down. Her energy was boundless, on or off the field.
You can still see the same natural energy with the way she plays today, and it makes her a full-back’s worst nightmare (as I can attest to, having played against her in what was the W-League). The way she uses her pace to go around you on the outside, or cut inside towards the goal without warning, she’s just so hard to contain.
However, as I got to know Cortnee more, I realised she’s so much more than a speedy and energetic forward. She’s actually a deep thinker too.
At one point we were both living in Melbourne and she persuaded me to go to watch the movie Before I Fall at the cinemas three times in a week. Three times is not a misprint.
It’s hardly a box-office hit with posters everywhere. But Cort loved it. In essence it revolves around a journey of existentialism, enlightenment and finding meaning in your life. She would go on and on about it for hours, discussing what happened and asking you all the questions that the movie evoked in her.
Somehow that story sums her up so well – her passion, how she gained an appreciation for all the small moments in life, and how that’s reflected in the incredible player that she has become.
