The modern football team is an ecosystem in and of itself: thousands of moving parts working in tandem to empower eleven players to go out and put the ball in the net more times than eleven opposition players. And increasingly in the modern game, the role of sports science is taking on an ever-increasing role in this space - physically priming players to be at their best. For the Matildas, this is where Jack Sharkey comes in.   Formerly with English sides Burton Albion, Queen’s Park Rangers and Aston Villa, Sharkey is now on the international stage: entrusted with monitoring the physical wellbeing of players and putting in place regimes so that they are not only able to peak on the next Matildas’ matchday, but on the biggest stage of them all in 2023 when the World Cup comes around. Speaking to ESPN’s Joey Lynch, Sharkey gave an insight into how his day to day work surrounding the Matildas is structured, the nature of sports science itself, and some of the principles that he uses to guide him making sure that not just the likes of Sam Kerr, Steph Catley, and Caitlin Foord are at their best when they get the call, but even players on the fringes. But in the wake of Ellie Carpenter’s unfortunate injury suffered in the Champions League final, the unfortunate cloud of ACL injuries continues to hang over not just the Matildas, but all of women’s sport. Sharkey provided an insight into what he thinks some of the reasoning for the rash of ACL injuries is, as well as delving into how the Matildas, as well as the Young and Junior Matildas, are looking to protect their players.