Last Wednesday I had the privilege of attending an event at Macquarie Park in Sydney entitled ‘Women in Sport and Business – A Morning with the Matildas’.
Respected ABC commentator Stephanie Brantz hosted the 90-minute function and the 100-odd people present enjoyed in-depth interviews with three current Matildas and coach Ante Milicic.
Alanna Kennedy, Lydia Williams and Tameka Yallop spoke eloquently about the growth of the women’s game, the ramifications of the new found financial arrangements that were confirmed late last week and the challenges faced by globe-trotting female footballers who must juggle two leagues and international commitments in their busy lives.
The event was typical of the public face that has been built and nurtured by the women’s national team in the recent past; open, transparent and honest. However, it was Milicic who stole the show.
Taking the reins after such a tumultuous time for the Matildas and replacing Alen Stajcic at the helm just months prior to the World Cup in France, Milicic was to experience a baptism of fire as the media scrutiny grew day after day around the details of Stajcic’s departure.
Potentially, it was to be unfair on whoever took over the role and the former Socceroo and Olyroo assistant certainly looked a man under the pump as he frantically sought to settle the ship and get the Matildas to the tournament with their minds on the job and the level of belief required.
History will judge the performance as acceptable yet disappointing. The group stage was navigated with some stirring comebacks and hairy moments, yet the penalty shootout loss to Norway in the Round of 16 stung.
Such is the nature of knockout football and the penalty shootout concept itself, however Milicic’s team could at least hold their heads high after getting within moments and inches of a quarter-final.
One of the key decisions to be made prior to the tournament was Milicic’s choice of the right woman to lead. His choice proved to be somewhat inspirational, successful and popular.
Last Wednesday, Milicic told the story behind his decision to appoint Sam Kerr as captain of the Matildas. At just 26 years of age and with more than enough on her plate as the team’s taliswoman, avoiding placing another layer of pressure and responsibility on the world superstar could well have been seen as a logically and fair minded consideration to the situation.
However it took just two training sessions for Milicic to see things in Kerr that helped him form the view that she was the logical and best choice for the position.
The day before initially meeting his players, Milicic spent the day with his coaching staff; getting to know them as people and forming a strategical approach to the first sessions he would run as coach of the Matildas.
The following day, amidst some training sessions that saw the squad eager to impress their new mentor, Milicic called a player meeting. The players filed into the room and Samantha Kerr plonked herself in the front row.
It caught his eye immediately, perhaps expecting the WNSL’s best player to find a spot up the back, with feet up on the chair in front and chewing the gum lodged in the mouth. Milicic quickly learned that Kerr was far more nerd than jock.
Sam Kerr of Australia (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
He recounted the story of asking the players some questions in his opening remarks. The first three of which were answered by Kerr. What a dork!
He was immediately impressed with a young woman so obviously keen to impress, please and improve. Just days later, the pair shared a conversation where the Chicago Red Stars’ forward was informed of the qualities Milicic had observed in her and an offer to accept the captaincy was made.
Knowing the magnitude of the decision and the associated responsibilities of leading one of Australia’s most loved and competitive sporting teams, Milicic exerted no pressure. He told Kerr that he understood the enormity of the decision and suggested she, “take her time” and “sleep on it.”
Kerr’s response was stunning. “No, I want it.”
It was a brilliant story and one that gives me goosebumps even now as I tell it to you. It confirms for us all the innate confidence and lust for ownership and responsibility that sporting champions have. When things are on the line, Sam Kerr wants to be in the midst of the action, making the decisions and addressing the successes or failures in the post script.
The Matildas are lucky to not only have one of the biggest stars in world football but also a woman prepared to put her proverbial neck on the line and accept the repercussions no matter how good or bad.
Tim Cahill was of the same ilk in Socceroos’ kit and Graham Arnold is probably still yet to find a man to replace him. No doubt he will in time, yet the Matildas are undertaking no such search for a leader.
Sam Kerr will do just fine for the next few years – and so will her team.
Jockstar
Guest
She is the best sportswomen in the country with the right attitude. Legend I hope women’s EPL gets on tv
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
I think Sam, will have to make a tough and an important decision on who will be the penalty taker in the next few games going forward. I hope, just because she is the captain, she doesn't feel she should have to step up and take the penalties all the time. Obviously, she has been closely scrutinized on how she takes the pens. It seems to me that she has been studied very closely on how she takes them---how she steps up---and where she is going to direct the ball. I hope she is a big enough captain, to hand over that responsibility to someone else.
nevyn
Guest
I was more dissapointed than worried about our u19 results. In contrast to the u19s our u17s were fantastic and I think Rae Dower has done a fantastic job of building team unity and a culture of pride in the shirt and team work. The 17s had a very good tournament with a team younger than most of their opponents, they held Japan to a 0-0 draw and were only knocked out at the Semi Final level by a North Korea team who have a history of stacking their youth team with older player in that age group who never really go on to produce at senior level. On the other hand the u19s seem to have suffered greatly from the upheaval around the Matildas coaching positions with firstly Stajcic and Van Egmond leaving the program. Leah Blayney has had about 3 months in the job, and seemed to struggle to instill a team unity and sense of purpose in a team that had many players who had come through the Future Matildas program set up by Stajcic. There are very talented players in that squad who are on the verge of the Matildas (as well as some questionable selections of players that seemed to be based on their athletic ability more than their football ability) but they struggled massively to play as a team with so many players just playing their own game. We turned over the ball so often after 1 or 2 passes that we just left ourselves constantly open in transition and after a while we were to tired or didn't care enough to recover. These issues seemed to be more about individuals doing their own thing and not playing to the game plan which was in stark contrast to the South Koreans who did everything simply and worked tirelessly. They never over did thing, never tried to do too much, always provided supporting options and made the gap between two teams seem larger than what it is.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
I'm tipping the next decade will see China doing the same thing. The football world has finally moved well beyond Europe and South America. One can only imagine what things will look like in 10 years.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Thanks Redondo. Always a pleasure to write about great people. As Milicic told the story and I was utterly transfixed.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
She is a born leader. I must admit, one of my favourite players. Efficiency personified.
brookvalesouth
Roar Rookie
I still think the best choice as national captain is Steph Catley.
chris
Guest
reuster - having seen first hand what the Japanese are doing in their youth academies a few weeks ago, I'm not entirely surprised by these score lines. They are miles ahead of us in speed, technique and game awareness.
reuster75
Roar Rookie
Was a good article on the world game website about this very issue recently. https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/australian-youth-teams-face-difficult-future-predicts-coaching-guru
Redondo
Roar Rookie
That's one of your best articles Stuart. Excellent, as is Sam Kerr.
chris
Guest
Thanks for the article Stuart. She is a good choice as she obviously has the respect of her team mates. The Matildas didnt play well over the weekend. They looked disjointed and took one too many touches in everything they did. They will no doubt improve in tonights match. What is worrying is the recent U19 results in Thailand. We were absolutely smacked by N Korea, Japan and S Korea. We've now missed out on a WC spot. We are obviously doing something wrong in our youth development. I watched their games and against these countries we barely strung 2 passes together.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
Great post, great story, a great Player and a great Team. I was out at the game on Saturday and my view was they are definitely a team on the improve, I thought they looked better at the back, confident on the ball and were looking to dominate. They also looked like team that hadn't played together for a while. The personal things looked good, touch, structure etc, what was missing was the micro, the understanding. The forwards would make an angled run, and the pass would go to the wrong place. It was simply a case of them not on the same wavelength, we all know that a key in attacking is putting the ball where the player will be and not where they are, and that only happens when players play with each other more and more, you get to understand the runs of the players. I thought they looked a better team on Saturday than they did in the past
R J
Guest
She's amazing !!! Go Sam !!!