There were two elephants in the room at Accor Stadium on Wednesday morning as NSW Premier Chris Minns helped unveil a new mural honouring the Matildas’ 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign.
One, in fact, was on the mural.
Sam Kerr is the biggest of the 18 players painted on it by artist Kirthana Selvaraj, whose work will be the first in a series of pieces that will be installed at the Olympic Park venue to honour historic sporting events to have taken place there.
This would be unremarkable in any other week. But this week, Kerr is on trial in London for “racially aggravated abuse” of a police officer, and is facing the possibility – however remote – of jail time. Footage of her drunk and swearing at police, calling one of them “stupid and white”, has been confronting to watch for Matildas fans.
Minns, however, did not hesitate to nail his colours to the mast.
“I want to make it absolutely clear that we love Sam Kerr. She is absolutely fantastic,” Minns said.
NSW Premier Chris Minns helps unveil a mural by artist Kirthana Selvaraj honouring the Matildas – and, most prominently, their captain, Sam Kerr.Credit: Nick Moir
“No matter what happens, her image will be right here in Accor Stadium for future generations. She has acted like an absolute inspiration to the next generation. And let’s face it, she put a smile on all of our faces during that World Cup.
“So we love Sam.”
Minns didn’t directly reference the trial and scurried away for photos before he could be asked about it – and so it was left to Football Australia chief executive James Johnson to field a litany of questions about Kerr’s conduct, and if what had come to light was enough to spark a conversation at some point about her future as national team captain, regardless of whether she’s found guilty or not guilty.
They were all met with broadly the same response: two days into a four-day trial, it’s currently “half-time”, and as such, it’s too early to make a call.
Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr arrives at Kingston Crown Court for the second day of her criminal trial.Credit: AP
“There’s a principle called natural justice,” Johnson said.
“There’s been an allegation and a charge applied to Sam, and Sam is working through a trial where she’s putting her case forward, so I’m not going to comment on those proceedings. I don’t think that would be appropriate … because midway through a trial, we don’t have all the facts, and no one here does. Once all the information is at our disposal, that’s something that we can look at, and we can talk about.”
Johnson said he was in regular contact with Kerr to offer support, and acknowledged “there will be some disappointment out there” about the footage that has emerged.
“We know there’s a 30-second, 40-second clip video out there – but we also know there’s a 30-minute video out there, which certainly we haven’t seen, and I don’t believe it’s been made public,” he said.
Matildas interim coach Tom Sermanni.Credit: Getty Images
The second elephant was Tom Sermanni.
Not that anyone was unhappy to see him but he has been serving as interim coach since September, which is probably much longer than he had anticipated when he took on the job. In an ideal world, someone else would be there but more than six months since the departure of Tony Gustavsson, the Matildas still don’t have a permanent head coach in place.
Johnson denied the lengthy nature of FA’s search was jeopardising their preparations for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup, and not for the first time, suggested the preferred candidate was currently under contract, and that they were playing the waiting game.
“The club season is in full swing at the moment. I can assure you that we are talking to candidates at the very highest level, both globally and also locally,” he said.
“But it’s all about making sure the coach is ready to come, and we’re able to complete a contract with the coach at a time when the coach is no longer contracted to another club – or national team, I should say.”
That means Sermanni will probably still be in charge when the Matildas return to Australian soil in April for a pair of friendlies against South Korea at Allianz Stadium (April 4) and McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle (April 7).
And there was a “decent chance”, he said, that Kerr would be fit and available for selection by then.
The 31-year-old hasn’t played for over a year due to an ACL injury, from which she has nearly fully recovered.
“Provided there’s no setbacks, I think she’ll be close,” Sermanni said.
”But then … by that stage, she’s not played for probably 15 months, so a lot of things will potentially depend on what her schedule is with Chelsea, and how quickly, or how slowly rather, and safely we need to bring her back to play.”
