They’re going to have to be. In their march to the semi-final so far, Gustavsson has had six of his 11 starting players in the opening win over Ireland – goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, Catley, Alanna Kennedy, Clare Hunt, Ellie Carpenter and Caitlin Foord – play every minute of the World Cup.
And that doesn’t include the midfield engine room of Katrina Gorry and Kyra Cooney-Cross, who have basically done the same (Gorry was subbed off in the dying moments of the group stage win over Canada and Cooney-Cross has played all bar the last four minutes of extra time against France).
A comparison with England’s Lionesses is fair given Sarina Wiegman’s side has also had one extra-time marathon: the round of 16 win over Nigeria, who conquered the Matildas in the group stage.
Only three of the European champions’ squad has played every minute of the 480 across the tournament, goalkeeper Mary Earps as well as defenders Alex Greenwood and Millie Bright.
While both Gustavsson and Wiegman have used 17 players so far in the tournament, the Australian manager’s reluctance to use his bench heavily has been fervently debated.
Four of his squad players – Clare Polkinghorne, Alex Chidiac, Charli Grant and Tameka Yallop – have played just 29 minutes between then, excluding stoppage time.
It means the burden has been squarely on the shoulders of his starting stars, but how much longer can they sustain it?
The outlook is glooming