The Illawarra Mercury is proud to cover the Women's World Cup: Editorial

As Foord's strike hit the back of the net, the 75,000-strong crowd at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney was behind her, and the rest of the Matildas squad and the Mercury was there every step of the way.

Sports reporter Jordan Warren was reporting from the sidelines, and our photographer Adam McLean was with the pack shooting pictures.

Once upon a time, coverage of an event like this would have been par for the course.

However, in recent years finding the budget to send journalists and photographers to events like the Olympics, Commonwealth Games or the World Cup has been impossible, particularly for a local news publisher.

Many local and national newsrooms rely on photography from agencies like Getty or AAP, and words written from watching the game on the tv. (Yes, that happens in newsrooms around the world).

So, having the Women's World Cup on our doorstep has been an enormous opportunity for our staff at the Mercury to get their hands dirty, and it's an opportunity we have embraced for the Sydney-based games knowing our readers would want us to get involved.

Photographers Anna Warr and Adam McLean have made the journey to Sydney so they can jockey it out with photographers from all over the world to capture the shot that sums up the game.

While reporter Jordan Warren has been mixing it with the world's media to find the interesting angle for Illawarra readers. And when everyone wants a piece of Foord or Fowler, we're lucky to have the local know-how and contacts.

It's with huge pride that we can say the words and photographs in our coverage are created by Mercury talent - and they are first class.

We'll continue to report from the sidelines, and hopefully, on Sunday, August 20, we'll publish a picture of the Matildas holding the cup aloft.

- Gayle Tomlinson

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