Matildas fans all say the same thing about the Sam Kerr injury announcement

Matildas fans have had their say over the Matildas’ decision to keep Sam Kerr’s injury news up their sleeve until the last minute.

Matildas fans united behind coach Tony Gustavsson and his communication choices around Sam Kerr ahead of the national side’s blockbuster clash against Nigeria in Brisbane - a game the Matildas would eventually lose 3-2.

The decision to not disclose exact details of the star striker’s calf injury until around an hour before kick-off in the opening game, while routine in football, enraged parts of the Australian media who declared the late notice was disrespectful to supporters.

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The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie wrote an opinion piece after the 1-0 victory over Ireland, calling the decision “sneaky and deceitful”.

“What a dishonest way to treat their supporters,” Ritchie wrote.

“Announcing it so late was calculating and conniving. Ever heard of transparency?

“If Kerr was injured, why not tell the nation, who spent Thursday promoting and lauding Kerr and her teammates in anticipation of a global sporting extravaganza.”

News Corp’s Todd Balym said while “covering up injuries is nothing new in sport”, the way it was handled was tantamount to “lying”.

“Fronting a press conference 24 hours before biggest game of your life knowing you won’t play is just lying,” Balym said.

“Poses (a) gambling integrity risk when (there is) no transparency.”

The news of Sam Kerr’s injuries broke hearts around the nation. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Despite the criticism, Matildas fans were steadfast in their support of Gustavsson’s choice to not disclose the injury, saying it was a strategic move in order to allow Ireland minimal time to adjust.

A number of fans, who had travelled from all over the country to see the Matildas at Lang Park in Brisbane, spoke to news.com.au to express how they felt about the tactic.

Serena, 20, had travelled from Bunbury in Western Australia to watch the game.

“I reckon it’s a good tactic,” Serena said.

“It’s a surprise. Ireland had tactics preparing for Sam Kerr, but then they find out, ‘oh, she’s not playing, we’ve got to switch up.’

“We don’t know what they’re going to come at us with.”

Chris, from Spring Gully United SC in the regional Victorian town of Bendigo, said it was simply more nerve-racking for fans to have injury news announced ahead of time.

“I think it’s just more time to worry about it,” Chris said.

“Always knowing at the last moment, we were just about to enjoy (the previous fixture against Ireland) and just see what happens.

“We’ve had a couple of days now (with the Fowler and Luik injury news) thinking about what does tonight hold, and worried about how the Matildas will go for the rest of the tournament if they don’t beat Nigeria.”

Ellie Carpenter starred against Ireland. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Mervin, from Biloela in central Queensland, said the criticism was unfounded and reflective of anti-football biases in Australian media.

“Why let your opposition know?” Mervin asked.

“I’m sure it happens in other sports too. When you lose a top player, you’re trying to hide it until the very last minute to say he or she is not playing.

“(The criticism) is just the opposition as far as I’m concerned, we’ve got a jealousy there in my opinion.

“We have a bit of a problem here in Australia, even though football is the most participated in sport in Australia, AFL and rugby league are sort of much more popular as far as the media goes.

“The most important people knew and that was the players.

“We shouldn’t complain about it, we’re Australians and we support the Matildas – I agree with what (Gustavsson) did, it was coming out of reports that Ireland probably would have worked a lot of their strategies on trying to shut down Sam Kerr.”

Gustavsson himself pleaded with fans after the game to “understand” why the decision was made to engage in some mild subterfuge.

“I hope you and the media understand the position not to say,” Gustavsson said.

“Some people might wonder why we weren’t honest in the press conference. We didn’t have all the information either. We were waiting for the scans at that moment too.

“A lot of it is tactics and you don’t want to give away anything. Sam is a massive part of our game plan and Ireland’s game plan. We wanted to protect Sam and the team emotionally not to have to answer all the questions.

“It was a tough 24 hours mentally for the team. I think they handled it magnificently. The way Sam led the team speech in the locker room and today as well, she means a lot for the team, even though she is not on the park.”

Ireland coach Vera Pauw would later confirm her side only found out about Kerr’s absence after the Australian team sheet was submitted.

Originally published as Matildas fans all say the same thing about the Sam Kerr injury announcement