When Elise Kellond-Knight ruptured her left Achilles at Friday morning training in Melbourne in March, her heartbroken teammates rallied around the beloved soccer champion.
It was a cruel blow. Kellond-Knight had only returned to playing in August, after an excrutiating knee injury kept her out of the game for more than two years, forcing her to miss the Tokyo Olympics and spend six months unable to walk, during the already isolating experience of a global pandemic.
Now, as physically painful as this new injury was, the hurt had to pale in comparison to what Kellond-Knight knew instantly — she would now also miss playing for her beloved Matildas at the World Cup this year, on home turf, in front of a roaring crowd.
But, as Kellond-Night explains, what she actually felt was completely numb. The only thing she was sure of was that she couldn’t — wouldn’t — sit on the sidelines at a major tournament again. The next day, nursing her leg and waiting for news about potential surgery, she called her manager with a message: get me on that field.
One impromptu interview with Channel 7 later, and Kellond-Knight got her wish. As Australia and New Zealand host the Women’s World Cup for the first time from July 20 to August 20, she will be there as a field commentator.
“When I rang my manager, I said, ‘I missed out on Tokyo . . . I want to be around the World Cup, I don’t want to miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-career type thing’,” Kellond-Night remembers. “’How do I get as close as I can?’ So for me, it was a no-brainer to try and get on the ground and just to be at the games.
“I mean, it’d be pretty tragic to have to spectate from the grandstands; I wanted to be amongst it, to have an active role.”
The veteran defender, who has played for the Matildas in more than 100 games over 16 years, including as captain and for three World Cups and an Olympics, will join a commentary team led by 7SPORT anchor Mel McLaughlin and broadcasting icon Bruce McAvaney.
It’s an exciting opportunity for someone who has an undergraduate degree in pharmaceutical science, is in the process of getting her coaching licence and has one unit left on her MBA. Kellond-Knight describes herself as “dabbling in a lot of things; I have a curious mind”.
“I have absolutely no experience doing commentary, but it seems like a really exciting, challenging opportunity,” she says.
“That’s the way that I look at it. I had a phone call that I didn’t think was an interview, but it kind of turned into one, and they asked me, why do you want to do this?
“My answer was that I just want to enjoy the World Cup. I want to experience it with all of Australia, to give my knowledge and insights. I think it’s going to be a pretty fun way to experience it.”
It’s strictly a one-off, though. Kellond-Knight is adamant she’s not looking for a longer-term media job (“I don’t like attention”) but she’s looking forward to putting her instincts and knowledge to the test.
“I think, through so many years in the game, you just gather the presenting, media type skills, just from doing interviews and TV,” she says. “But live TV is a whole new ballgame, for sure . . . A lot of it is just ingrained knowledge, from being a player and playing in a lot of these countries previously.
“I know (the Matildas) are going to have some great victories. So for me, it’s special to be close enough to experience and feel that, and I think they will appreciate having someone that they know and respect on the other side of the fence, too.”
And as a World Cup player herself, Kellond-Knight understands what the team will face, but also knows doing it on home soil will take the pressure to another level.
“We’ve played in packed stadiums before, but not in Australia,” she says. “A good memory of mine is in Rio playing against Brazil, the host nation, in front of thousands, but they were all from Brazil. So you go out there, and there’s no expectation; everyone’s against you, it almost inspires you to be better.
“Whereas when the girls walk out for that first game, there are going to be millions of eyeballs on them expecting them to win. I’m sure we can cope with it, but it’s a whole new element we probably hadn’t experienced before.”
Kellond-Knight, who hopes to continue playing once she has completed rehabilitation on her knee, says she has seen enormous changes in women’s soccer over her career, particularly since the Matildas achieved parity of pay and conditions with the Socceroos in 2019.
“Before, we were balancing study, work, all those things, but now the girls are full-time athletes and with time, the players get better and better,” she says. “There’s more time to look after your body, more time to improve your body, to get faster, all those fine details.
“We still haven’t seen the height in women’s football . . . The players have only had these conditions for a couple of years — imagine the young kids that will come through and have this and what they’re going to be. It’s pretty exciting.”
The FIFA Women’s World Cup, will be live and free from July 20 on Channel 7 and 7plus.