EXCLUSIVE: Questions over Sam Kerr's playing future as full-blown Matildas 'flush-out' looms

A golden era for the Matildas could be coming to an end.

Of the 18 players selected to play in Paris, seven of those are 30-plus.

Michelle Heyman is the oldest player in the team at 35 and with the next FIFA World Cup in Brazil not until 2027 there could be a few names who call time.

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Elise Kellond-Knight was one player who planned for last year's FIFA World Cup to be her last. That was until she blew her ACL.

Stan Sport expert Kellond-Knight, 33, expects there will be some players who don't continue beyond this year's Paris Olympics.

"It would be interesting to see how the team rebuilds after this (Olympics)," Kellond-Knight told Wide World of Sports.

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"I think there will be a bit of a flush out. A lot of players are getting into their mid-30s and it depends on their passion and if they want to keep going because it's a really tough lifestyle to keep doing into your 30s. You're missing out on a lot of your life. 

"There's no stability, your partner asks a lot of questions. It's difficult to have a family. Mini (Katrina Gorry) is proving that wrong but it is hard.

"A lot of things you put on hold. The girls are human. We don't have money in our pockets for retirement. We're not paid a lot."

Parenthood is one element that could condemn players to the sidelines. While most men can continue playing unabated with children, the same can't always be said for women.

Kellond-Knight said the physical toll on women can be decisive in whether they return to sport or not.

"A lot of players think they can and they try — going through birth and then getting yourself physically back, but then you're also a parent," she said.

"You see that even a lot of guys when their wife or partner gives birth and then maybe their performance goes down the next year because you're a dad now. It's probably even worse as a female. 

"Mini has been a really good testament to how successful it can be but I don't think every case is that successful."

Among the players with a question mark over their heads is Sam Kerr.

She was ruled out of this year's Paris Olympics. It would have been her third Games after Brazil and Tokyo.

At 30 years old, there's still every chance that she will play in Los Angeles in 2028 and in Brazil in 2027. 

However, that may be dependent on her health.

"I don't know if she wants to play in the next World Cup – I don't know, you'd have to ask her," said Kellond-Knight.

"You can't take anything for granted. I was in a similar boat. That World Cup would have been my last World Cup. I snapped my Achilles three months before and it's like who the hell dealt me these cards? But that's the life of an athlete.

"You've just got to suck it up and accept the fate that you've been given. She'll be the same. Stuff happens but you just regroup. She wants to win trophies I'm sure. But you have to put it in perspective. 

"She's always team first anyway. She'll never put herself ahead of anyone else. Like, say this Olympics, she wouldn't take a spot if she didn't think she was ready to be there. It's hard to think ahead for three, four years time."

The Matildas will play USA, Germany, and Zambia in the group phase.

Their first match is against Germany on Thursday in Marseille.

Elise Kellond-Knight will appear as a football expert on Stan Sport's Olympics Daily and Paris Preview shows throughout the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.