Steph Catley's revelation about Sam Kerr amid brutal Olympics reality for Matildas hero

Matildas stand-in captain Steph Catley has revealed she is reaching out to Sam Kerr for advice ahead of the Paris Olympics this year. Matildas captain Kerr was left devastated when she went down with an ACL injury during training last month.

The Chelsea forward will miss between 8-12 months due to the ACL injury, which has all but ended her chances of playing in the Paris Olympics. Australia beat Uzbekistan 3-0 and 10-0 to qualify for the Olympics, and Kerr's presence has been felt in the camp despite being halfway around the world in England.

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Catley took over as captain at last year's World Cup when Kerr entered the tournament injured and didn't start a match until the semi-final loss against England. Catley has the experience in the big moments, but it still hasn't stopped her from reaching out to one of the best players in the world for advice.

"I'm still very much leaning on Sam and she's very much involved in a lot of the decision making and things that we talk about," Catley said. "She's an incredible leader and someone that's very, very important to this team.

"So we're absolutely still involved in talking about things. I did ask her right at the beginning if she ever feels like it's too much and she's got obviously so much to deal with, and so much to focus on with the her injury and getting back (and) she doesn't want to be involved at whatever point, she's more than welcome to step away.

"But she cares about this team so much. So she's definitely very much on top of everything and I'm still leaning on her for a lot of things. So it's nice to have her there."

Steph Catley to lead Matildas into the Olympics

The Matildas squad has been pretty settled since the beginning of the World Cup, which has seen few players given a big chance to break into the Olympics team. Coach Tony Gustavsson came under fire for heavy losses against Canada at the end of last year when he fielded younger players for experience.

However, Catley has taken it upon herself to help guide the team and take the new players under her wing. She also admitted it has been hard to break into a constant Matildas line-up across the last few years. "It can be difficult," she conceded. "We do obviously have a great consistency in this team so a lot of us have played together for a long, long time.

"Sometimes it can be challenging when a new player comes in because you're so used to playing with someone else and you're used to their movements and the way that they play. But I think it's a credit to the players that have come in straight away at training (and) they've been at an incredible level. Technically, tactically, they've taken in everything that we do as a team and put that into practice straightaway. It can be a challenge but it's amazing what they can do as players to come into a set-up and still make an impact and not disturb what's already there as well. So that's been fun to watch."

Kerr will most likely miss the Olympics due to her recovery period, which will see Catley lead Australia into the Olympics after they officially qualified on Wednesday. Gustavsson will now face the tricky task of trimming his squad from 22 to 18.

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