Inside Sam Kerr’s rollercoaster year: How Matildas poster girl has regathered her focus after a high-profile court case and catastrophic knee injury – as the Chelsea striker looks to make her international return

Passersby walking through a drizzly Kingston, south-west London, on a gloomy January morning would have been surprised to see a horde of broadcasters, suited, booted, and positively gleaming as they preened themselves on the grey pavement outside the local Crown Court.

If you overheard their chatter, it wouldn’t take more than a second to catch that distinctive Australian twang. A couple stopped to ask what the commotion was about and were left visibly confused by the reply: ‘It’s about…