A problem with the surgical graft that repaired the knee of Matildas striker Sam Kerr went undiscovered for 10 months, leaving her in pain and suffering “dark” days in her rehabilitation.
The 32-year-old is set to return for the Matildas this weekend in a friendly against Wales, almost two years after her last national team appearance. She has used her first media availability to declare she wants to continue as captain, but also spoke at length about what came to be her medical “mystery”.
Kerr revealed during her recovery she reported pain to a series of doctors but they were at a loss to explain it. “I just had an issue with my graft, but nothing was showing up on the MRI, it was just a mystery,” she said.
“I had pain for 10 months, and – not that no one believed me – but I was saying I was in pain, and everyone was like, ‘we can’t see anything’. And I was, ‘but I’m in pain’. So then I had to get surgery on it and it was all fixed.”
The typical timeline for an ACL injury is around a year, but the striker’s absence saw her miss a season and a half of football, and she said there were “definitely dark” days.
“I struggled a little bit in the first nine months with a few setbacks and there were a few times there where I was like, ‘gosh, I don’t know if this will ever go away’,” she said.
“But I’ve always had that burning desire, and I’ve had a lot of good people around me that have pushed me to keep going, specifically my partner [Kristie Mewis].”
Kerr has accumulated just seven substitute appearances for Chelsea since her return, and she conceded she is “definitely not 90-minutes fit”. The Matildas’ leading goalscorer said she has “about 70 minutes” in her at the moment, but that she would hopefully return to full fitness in the next month or so.
“I’ve come back from my injury, but there’s a year-and-a-half of no football behind me,” she said. “It’s been quite frustrating, because of course I want to play as much minutes as possible, but there’s been people a lot smarter than me holding me back a little bit. Fitness wise, I really don’t know.”
The 32-year-old hasn’t played for the Matildas since November 2023, not long after the memorable Women’s World Cup in which she captained the hosts and scored in the semi-final against England.
After the controversy around the striker’s London court case, some called for the striker’s time with the armband to end. Steph Catley has filled in as captain in Kerr’s absence.
New coach Joe Montemurro plans to address the issue during this camp. Kerr said those conversations hadn’t happened yet, and she wanted to continue as captain. “I still feel really passionate about that, I know I have so much more to give for this team in a leadership role,” she said.
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“This team will make football decisions, and I feel like, football-wise, I’m one of the best leaders in the team, so I feel really passionate and proud that I’ve been in that position before and hopefully continue forward.”
She has joined the Matildas in previous camps, but this week has been the first time as a formally selected player. The forward has noticed a new intensity under new coach Joe Montemurro, who was appointed in June. “The demand that he’s put on the team is really high from just even the passing patterns. There are demands on everything that you do,” she said.
The Matildas play Wales early Sunday morning Australian time, before meeting England next week. Two matches against New Zealand at the end of November and start of December will be the final opportunity before likely Asian Cup warm-up matches in February.
Kerr said she has appreciated the love from supporters, and is impatient to don the green and gold again. “It’s been really nice to feel the support from Oz and from afar, but it’s been also quite draining to keep hearing that ‘when are you back’ question, so I’m excited to just play and get it over with.”
Australia’s first match of the Asian Cup is against the Philippines in Perth, Kerr’s hometown, on 1 March.
