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Much has been made of the Matildas' determination to conceal skipper Sam Kerr's wounded presumption up of the tournament-opener against Ireland.

The Matildas skipper and manager Tony Gustavsson person present received the backing of Sydney Roosters manager Trent Robinson, who compared Kerr's concern to that of prima halfback Cooper Cronk starring into the 2018 NRL expansive final.

If you tin remember, Cronk carried a breached scapula into the crippled successful 1 of the astir heroic performances successful league history, helping the Roosters bushed the Storm.

"There was a spot written astir it astatine the time, but it's not going to alteration radical turning up," Robinson said.

"The nonsubjective of a manager is to triumph a crippled – different radical mightiness person a quality of opinion, – but our occupation is to make intrigue and guessing successful the opposition.

"Showing your cards days and weeks earlier a crippled is giving a spot of a extremity expanse to the opposition, truthful I've got nary contented (with what the Matildas did).

"People wouldn't person turned up if they recovered out? People wouldn't person watched?

"The coach's occupation for Australia is to triumph the game, and if that was a tactical vantage truthful Australia could triumph the game, past I deliberation we're blessed with that arsenic Australians alternatively than having the cognition hours earlier that Sam wasn't playing."