Sam Kerr is passionate about reclaiming the Matildas captaincy, saying “I know I have so much more to give for this team in a leadership role”, but indicated she hasn’t yet discussed the issue with coach Joe Montemurro.
Kerr also declared herself ready to play 70 minutes in her international return against either Wales or England in the coming days, increasing that to the full 90 minutes over the next month and “definitely” being fully match fit in time to “hopefully lift the trophy” at March’s Women’s Asian Cup.
Speaking with Australian media for the first time in the almost two years since her last appearance for Australia, the 32-year-old striker recounted the challenges of her complex rehabilitation after rupturing her ACL in January 2024.
Kerr returned for Chelsea in September, 20 months after the initial injury that morphed into a “mystery” pain in her leg and a protracted process to diagnose and then fix it. During that time, she has also welcomed her first child with partner Kristie Mewis (“having Jags has probably just [given me] a whole new look on life”), been planning a wedding, bought a house in Perth and been charged and ultimately found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment of a London police officer.
In her absence, Steph Catley has worn the armband and proved herself a worthy skipper, leading to the inevitable questions around what would happen when Kerr returned. Montemurro indicated he would broach the subject with Kerr in the lead-up to these two friendlies in the UK, but Kerr said she was yet to have the conversation.
“I think Joe’s just letting me enjoy the first few days of camp,” Kerr said via Zoom from Cardiff, where the Matildas are in camp preparing to face Wales on Sunday at 12am AEDT. “I’ve just come in and the only meetings I’ve attended, which has been really nice to be honest, have been the team meetings. I think everyone is just giving me space to just come back in and enjoy myself and be free, come back in and play football.
Sam Kerr scored in her return for Chelsea last month.Credit: Getty Images
“But on being the captain, of course I still feel really passionate about that. I know I have so much more to give for this team in a leadership role, and this team here will make football decisions. 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.”
Kerr has played limited minutes off the bench for Chelsea over the past few weeks, acknowledging “it’s been quite frustrating” wanting more game time but having to trust “people a lot smarter than me holding me back”.
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