When the chance came to play for Southern United this season, and explore a little bit of their neighbouring country, the Australians jumped at the opportunity.
Keen, 28, who grew up in northern New South Wales, has mainly played in the National Premier League in Queensland for the past 10 years.
After tearing her ACL in 2018, Keen returned — only to tear the same ACL, leaving her sidelined for about three years.
It was a refreshing break from football, but when she returned, she joined Broadbeach, where Southern United coach Kris Ridley was the girls and women’s director at the time.
Looking for a change, Keen landed in Adelaide this season, when she joined Metro United Women’s Football Club and met Scott.
Scott, 22, was born in the United Kingdom, and moved to Australia when she was 10, joining Adelaide City.
She went through the state programme, also tore her ACL in 2017 — then tore the other ACL in 2021 — and joined Metro about six years ago.
Female-only clubs are rare in New Zealand, but Scott and Keen said they were seldom found in Australia, either.
Metro was formed in 2006 and had about 1000 members with junior and division teams, alongside the NPL team that played in the South Australian conference.
"You do get that feel that they’re trying to do what’s right for the women," Keen said.
"They’re trying to promote it and trying to do what they can.
"The hard thing is that it’s still hard with funding and things like that."
Keen had not come across another women’s-only club, but believed they were a great initiative.
"When you have a normal club, as much as they’re trying to make it progressive, it’s still not great.
"The men always get the prime playing times, they get the best changing rooms. No matter how much they say they’re trying to improve that, it’s still not happening.
"I think when you have an all women’s club then that doesn’t matter, you don’t have to worry about that. They just get the best of what the club can offer."
Scott enjoyed the club’s family environment and had seen a shift in women’s football in Adelaide and nationally.
Their NPL conference had grown to 10 teams, and the level of the state league, below the NPL, had developed massively.
Keen also noticed improvements in the NPL from when she started in terms of player salaries and broadcasting of the league.
"Obviously it would be good for it to get even more . . . but it’s good to see those improvements and more people playing."
There had been a big shift in people paying attention to women’s football after the Fifa World Cup.
"What I’ve noticed is people who weren’t even football fans ... there’s a lot more respect around women’s sport in general from them, I think, which is nice."
The Matildas’ success created a buzz, and added to the atmosphere through the World Cup, which made people take notice.
"That happened in the UK as well when the Lionesses won the Euros," Scott said.
"That was a big change for the WSL and that kind of channelled into Australia with the World Cup.
"I feel like those big things make a big difference."
Still, there is room for improvement.
"It’s on the way up, but it’s definitely not there yet," Scott said.
Keen agreed, saying the logic that people did not care about woman’s sport was no longer valid after games selling out across the United States.
"When you provide access to it, people do actually want to go and watch it," Keen said.
"That argument of people that used to say ‘no-one wants to watch it’ — it’s just not true.
"It’s really good to watch and I think there’s obviously a lot more progress to be made.
"Hopefully, it doesn’t kind of plateau — there’s still so much more to do."
So what do they make of life with Southern United?
Both had been impressed by the standard of the national league, saying it was on par with the NPL back home, as were their team-mates.
"Their footballing brains are great," Scott said.
"They have the footballing ability, they have the awareness, they’re just fun . . . not just decent footballers, but decent people which is important."
Keen and Scott, who are living with team physio Helen Littleworth, are grateful for the opportunity to experience football across the Ditch and see New Zealand.
"It’s been a great way to see New Zealand, but also play football. I’d do it again — 100%," Scott said.
