As Sam Kerr walked out of Brisbane airport she was hustled by a Channel 10 reporter.
“Sam Kerr, is your World Cup over?” he asked with a microphone in her face.
“Definitely not,” she responded.
He followed up: “Will we see you again for the Canada game?“
She replied: “Of course, I’ll be there.”
This last answer is the one lacking clarity. Will she be there, as in on the field and playing? Or there, as in an unused substitute on the bench? The devastating truth is she probably does not even know, given the precarious nature of calf injuries and their propensity for aggravation.
The speculation started as soon as Kerr and Football Australia announced in unison on Thursday evening that she had picked up a calf injury and would thus be unavailable for the Matildas’ opening Group B games against Ireland and Nigeria.
“Calf injury recovery time” became Australia’s most googled keywords, followed closely by “grade one”, “grade two” and “grade three”. Punters did the maths on each and matched it with the tournament schedule.
Would the Matildas captain really be back in time to play Canada? Did she not just leave the team’s Sydney hotel sporting a compression bandage? Isn’t Latrell Mitchell still sidelined at South Sydney with his own persistent calf problem?
Sam Kerr leaves the Matildas’ team hotel in Sydney on Friday morning with a compression bandage on her left calf.Credit: MEDIA-MODE.COM
After Australia’s tournament-opening win over Ireland, coach Tony Gustavsson said: “She’s going to be out for two games, and then we’ll reassess afterwards. That tells you a little bit about what grade it is, but we don’t want to go into more details on that at this point.”
Sports physiotherapist Brien Seeney believes – without having personally seen Kerr’s calf – that a “best-case scenario” would be a recurrence of the calf cramping she experienced while playing for Chelsea in May, which would give her a good chance of being fit to play Canada on July 31.
But he believed, based on Gustavsson’s loose timeline, the injury was more likely to be a grade-one strain. That would usually sideline a footballer for two to three weeks. Given Kerr sustained the injury on Wednesday, Seeney said the notion of a return 12 days post-injury was unrealistic.
“If they reassess after next Thursday, that is eight days post-injury,” said Seeney, the man behind the NRL Physio social media accounts. “That would likely be a grade one, which means you are likely not going to see her on that game on the 31st.
“It’s highly unlikely that you’re reassessing someone day eight post-injury to have them then play day 12 post-injury. So I think the most likely scenario is we’re dealing with a grade-one calf strain, they’re reassessing her and then she’s more than likely looking to return for those elimination games.”
Seeney said the timeline indicated a grade-two injury – a partial tear – was unlikely because that would mean four to eight weeks out and render a reassessment in one week largely useless.
“The only complicating matter about it is that calf injuries are known for lingering symptoms,” he said. “Calves are known for pushing out return dates because of struggles during rehab.”
Should the Matildas progress to the round of 16 they would not play that match until August 7 – a full week after the Canada game and almost three weeks after Kerr sustained her injury.
Even after that period of recovery – if the strain is only grade one – it is doubtful Gustavsson would risk starting his star forward in the first knockout match. Ellie Carpenter on Friday at least appeared to imply an even later return was possible.
“It was heartbreaking for Sam personally and [we are] also obviously heartbroken,” Carpenter told Football Australia. “But we know she was with us throughout the whole 90 minutes. We played for her, won for her, and we know she’ll be back with us soon.
“We’re all there for her, like she’s always there for us during [difficult] times. This is the most important time. We’ll all rally around her, and we know that she’ll get herself right to come help us in the later stages.”
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