Robbie Slater calls out Matildas over 'unfair' detail in Sam Kerr injury saga
The Aussie football great has called on the Matildas to come clean about the exact nature of the injury at the Women's World Cup.
Robbie Slater is right – it's time the Matildas came clean over what exactly is going on with Sam Kerr and THAT calf injury. It was one thing to withhold information on Kerr in the lead-up to the World Cup opener against Ireland – that's standard fare – but surely now Australian fans are entitled to a little more information instead of being treated like mushrooms.
There are signs the star striker's health – or at least the constant talk of it – is becoming a distraction for the Matildas. During the week young Kyra Cooney-Cross was thrown under the team Mercedes when she innocently remarked Kerr had 'torn' her calf, not merely strained it.
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Football Australia's media machine went into White House press office mode as it attempted to kill off the 'Kerr's tournament over' narrative. You can just imagine how poor Cooney-Cross felt as that circus played out as she tried to prepare for Australia's second group match against Nigeria?
It was unfair for her to be put in that position in the first place and unfair teammates stand before the media each day and do their best Doogie Howser MD impersonations as the questions about Kerr's fitness are fired in. The secrecy is no longer a tactical move.
Australia's opponents know she won’t be risked at this stage of the tournament – and tickets have been sold well in advance - so claims this is some sort of PR exercise are spurious in the extreme. So why the cloak and dagger, the smoke and mirrors?
Robbie Slater calls for Matildas to come clean on Sam Kerr
Slater, in his Daily Telegraph column, put his laces through the issue in typical forthright fashion. "Why can’t we get exact news and a real update on the severity of her (Kerr's) injury?" Slater wrote. "She is the face of the World Cup. I don’t think you need to play mind games with the possibility of round of 16 return or later, just come out and say it.
"The whisper is she won’t play at all. A calf tear is typically a four-week injury. You talk to any young fans and all they want to know is 'how bad is Sam’s injury and when is she going to play?'
"They have a right to know how bad it is and if she is not going to play at all." Bang on.
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