Blissett, 18, is from Albury-Wodonga and has made two appearances for Melbourne City in her first W-League season.

The defender was introduced to the game 10 years ago by her father, Clayton, who played football at local level in Albury-Wodonga.

The family influences has had her play netball, league tag, AFL and football, but it seems the round ball attracted Blissett the most.

“It was just my enjoyment of the game that kept me playing, I just played those other sports for fun, but it was really soccer that stuck with me and it became my passion for everything,” Blissett told The Women’s Game.

“I started playing when I was eight in Albury locally and we didn’t have a girls’ team at my age, so we always had to play boys until I got to 12 and from 12 to 15 I played against both boys and girls.

"The girls’ competition wasn’t necessarily weak, but it wasn’t as strong as I needed it to be to develop my football.

Blissett clashes with Ellie Carpenter in Round 1. By Ben Southall

“I grew up around soccer, my dad played and when I was little I was around the club. I didn’t initially want to play soccer, I did athletics for a couple of years and then all my friends started playing and some older influences in my life were playing, so I just thought I wanted to be like them. I started playing and I fell in love with it.

“My dad played at a local level, but he played basketball at state level and my auntie was a state hockey player, so sport does really run in the family, but no one has played at a really high level.”

Blissett’s journey has seen her move from Albury-Wodonga to Sydney then to South Melbourne where she enjoyed a stellar 28-game 2018 WNPL season.

Along with 15-year-old Nia Stamatopoulos, she got her chance immediately in Round One of the W-League season when City lost six key regulars for their opener away to Canberra United.

Surrounded by City's Matildas, Blissett admitted she was in awe of the her teammates.

The left-back is now back in contention for City’s clash against Perth Glory this weekend after being red carded for a challenge on Sydney FC’s Savannah McCaskill in Round 2, her first dismissal at any level.

“I’m looking forward to the Perth game, it was a learning experience in that Sydney game, but I’m really excited to be able to be back in the squad this week,” she said.

“Nothing was really going through my mind when I got the red, I didn’t even realise I reacted like that. I was just shocked more than anything, I just had to take it, walk off, learn from it and move on.

Shocked reacts only... Photos supplied by Rachel Bach (@bythewhiteline)