Munster given rein to monster the Blues

MAROONS captain Greg Inglis has given Cameron Munster the green light to play to his strengths and attack NSW when opportunity calls.

The Melbourne Storm fiveeighth, 23, produced one of the great Origin debuts last year, blitzing the Blues in the decider with daring runs and the cleanest of hands.

A repeat performance tomorrow night at the MCG would give the depleted Queensland some hope of upsetting the Blues after the shock withdrawal of Billy Slater (hamstring) yesterday.

“The most dangerous thing is [Munster’s] a ball runner ... we just want him to defend well and take them on when he sees the opportunity,” Inglis said.

Munster registered 136m, 18 tackles, five tackle busts and two try assists in his Origin debut and Maroons coach Kevin Walters is hoping lightning can strike twice.

The Rockhampton junior, who leads Storm for try and line-break assists this season, will get lots of opportunity in the back field alongside halfback Ben Hunt.

“Being a realist, if I see someone do something like that, there is every chance for Cameron to do that again,” Walters said.

“That’s what you want from your players — you want your players to be consistent.

“We expect Cameron back to that level and he has prepared well.

“If he can get to that level again, there will be a lot of happy Queenslanders.”

Despite losing 11 of the past 12 Origin series the new-look Blues, set to field 11 debutants, will go into the MCG blockbuster as favourites. A lot of the talk has been around the Blues’ speed with the likes of Josh Addo-Carr, James Roberts and Tom Trbojevic and James Tedesco in commission.

But rookie Blues coach Brad Fittler said speed alone will not win Origin.

“I don’t know how many games have been won in Origin on speed out wide,” Fittler said.