How Sam Kerr’s calf allowed Matildas to go from unrecognisable to superstars

In June, Sam Kerr was the only Matilda recognised by most Australians, according to a survey. Thanks to her calf injury things have changed dramatically.

Hayley Raso? Mackenzie Arnold? Katrina Gorry?

Never heard of them.

That was the common response from more than 1200 Australians asked to recognise our most famous female athletes just two months ago.

How quickly the landscape changes. Not only are the trio now household names, but their Matildas teammates will be far higher up the list today than in June when only Sam Kerr featured in the top 20.

And Monash University’s sports expert Dr Tom Heenan says Kerr’s calf injury at the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be the greatest factor in the soaring profile of other players.

“The main reason I think they weren’t recognisable is that a lot of them play overseas and don’t get the coverage back in Australia, and all the initial coverage in Australia was of Kerr,” Dr Heenan said.

Hayley Raso celebrates scoring for Australia. Picture Getty Images

Mackenzie Arnold after France missed a penalty. Picture: Getty Images

“When you took Kerr out of it, it opened it up for all the others to gain a higher profile.

“The initial conversation was on Kerr’s injury, then when you got to what’s happening on the ground it’s about other players.

“Kerr’s calf has meant that the team has not been Kerr-focused. That’s fed a lot of this.

“As they’ve gone on without Kerr, they’ve got more and more publicity and knocked the major codes off the back page.”

The Top 50 Most Recognisable survey, conducted by marketing and research firm YouGov Sport Australia, asked 1252 people: “Which, if any, of the following Australian female athletes (or non-binary) have you ever heard of?”

While Kerr was No.1 with 47 per cent recognition from the total poll group, Ellie Carpenter (21st, 14 per cent recognition), Caitlin Foord (23rd, 13 per cent), Mary Fowler (29th, 11 per cent), Steph Catley (37th, 10 per cent), and Kyra Cooney-Cross (38th, 10 per cent) are the only other Matildas on the list.

Arnold and Sam Kerr leaving the Sydney Swans HQ training centre in More Park. Picture: Adam Yip

You’d now struggle to find an Australian who didn’t recognise these players instantly, as well as the likes of Raso, Arnold, Gorry, and penalty kick hero Cortnee Vine.

And the recognition will skyrocket during Wednesday night’s semi-final at Sydney’s Stadium Australia, Dr Heenan said, predicting half of Australians will be watching.

“If there was a game you could market the World Cup on, this would be it, Australia versus England, the old rivalry, in a semi-final, I think it will break all records in terms of who is watching,” Dr Heenan said.

“This fills the pubs, fills the fan sites, I reckon half the population is watching this tournament now. We’re at 26 million, so 13 million, people are just dropping in and out to see what the score is.

“I reckon Cathy Freeman [at the Sydney 2000 Games] was big, because it was set against a lot of issues that were happening at the time, they were a very political Olympics.

“The funny thing about the Matildas is that they do it in a subtle way. They are a very political football team, they’ve gone on strike for better conditions and pay, they promote LGBTQI+, but they do it subtly. And in some way they show the power of women’s sport.”

Originally published as How Sam Kerr’s calf allowed Matildas to go from unrecognisable to superstars