‘What, so betting markets can be changed?’ Robinson backs Matildas over Kerr injury
By Dan Walsh
Three-time NRL premiership winning coach Trent Robinson has emerged as an unlikely ally for Matildas counterpart Tony Gustavsson after he attracted criticism for keeping Sam Kerr’s World Cup injury a secret.
Kerr’s shock withdrawal from Australia’s tournament-opening win over Ireland due to a calf injury was kept under wraps by the Matildas right up until final teams were named 90 minutes before kick-off on Thursday night.
Kerr and Gustavsson spoke at a pre-game press conference as though the world’s best player was not in any doubt despite knowing she had suffered the injury earlier in the day and wouldn’t play.
In his post-match press conference, Gustavsson appealed for understanding as to the tactical advantage gained by not flagging Kerr’s injury, and told host broadcaster Channel 7 in a separate interview that “we weren’t honest in the press conference [because] we didn’t have all the information either”.
Robinson was at the centre of a similar narrative around Cooper Cronk leading into the Roosters’ 2018 grand final triumph, when the star half was in doubt with a serious shoulder injury and Robinson ducked and weaved around the question of whether the star halfback would play until 30 minutes before kick-off. Cronk played the match despite having suffered what was revealed to be a badly broken shoulder blade.
“What, are you saying we should tell everyone so the betting markets can be changed?” Robinson responded when asked about keeping team secrets under intense scrutiny.
Sam Kerr watches the Ireland match from the sidelines.Credit: Reuters
“There was a bit written about it [in 2018], but it’s not going to change people turning up. The objective of a coach is to win a game – other people might have a difference of opinion – but our job is to create intrigue and guessing in the opposition.
“Showing your cards days and weeks before a game is giving a bit of a tip sheet to the opposition. People wouldn’t have turned up if they found out? People wouldn’t have watched?
“The coach’s job for Australia is to win the game, and if that was a tactical advantage so Australia could win the game then I think we’re happy with that as Australians rather than having the knowledge hours before that Sam wasn’t playing.”
Gustavsson declined to answer a pre-game question about the fitness of his players and was similarly coy after Australia’s win when pressed on Kerr’s availability for the rest of the tournament.
Questions about how Kerr was injured and the nature of her calf issue were dead-batted, confirming only that the Chelsea superstar will miss next Thursday’s clash against Nigeria, with a match against Canada following four days later.
There is then a week’s break until Australia’s prospective round of 16 fixture on August 7.
“She’s going to be out for two games, and then we’ll reassess afterwards,” Gustavsson said. “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.”
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