Cam’s standout ambition
CAMERON Munster has opened up on his grand final hell and has vowed not to succumb to another brain explosion as he sets his sights on winning the Clive Churchill Medal in Sunday night’s NRL decide rat Sydney’ s AN Z Stadium.
The Storm five-eighth will return to the scene of one of the darkest chapters of his rugby league career when he confronts the Panthers in the NRL grand final.
In the Storm’s last trip to the big dance in 2018, Munster lost the plot, sin-binned twice, including a stray kick on Roosters rival Joseph Manu which he labelled a “grub act” in the final minutes of Melbourne’s 21-6 defeat. In the wake of his big-game meltdown, Munster was subjected to personal threats, including abuse in the street from rugby league fans.
Just days after the 2018 grandfinal, Munster went into a mental spiral after learning a former teammate from his pre-NRL footballing years at the Central Capras, Reggie Saunders, had taken his life.
With the help of Melbourne’s psychologist, Munster worked through a number of issues, including a problem with alcohol, and has matured to the point where he was added to the Storm’s leadership group this season.
The Queensland Origin star will be Melbourne’s senior scrumbase shot-caller in the decider and Munster insists he will not be provoked by Penrith into another brain snap.
“There are going to be a lot of keyboard warriors and a lot of people trying to bring up that moment for ages,” Munster said of his 2018 grand final nightmare. “But it doesn’ t faze me too much. “It wasn’t a great moment for myself or my family. I had fans and members of the general public abu sing me and just giving it tome.
“But I have moved on. Everyone makes mistakes, the only way I can make am ends for what happened in 2018 is go out and try to play the best footy I can and prove to everyone that I can play on the big stage .”
Four Storm players have previously won the Clive Churchill Medal — Brett Kimmorley (1999), Greg Inglis (2007), Cooper Cronk (2012) and Billy Slater, who was man-of-the-match twice in the 2009 and 2017 grand finals. Now Munster wants to be added to the list as he prepares for a critical playmaking duel with Penrith sensation Jerome Luai, who shares the Storm pivot’s flamboyant, instinctive style.
“Winning one premiership (in 2017) was the biggest moment for me,” Munster said. “The next thing I’d really like to do is play well this Sunday and show everyone I can play well on the big stage again.
“I wouldn’ t mind having the‘ Clivey’ (Churchill Medal) on my shoulders. I’m not being selfish. I want to play the best for my team on Sunday. Luai has got a lot of confidence, a lot of skill, I like the way he plays.
“I want to just get in the game a lot earlier, run the ball more .”