Storm half receives Origin warning
Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster has been warned not to let his 2017 successes go to his head as Queensland chairman of selectors Gene Miles stressed that Maroons jerseys will not be handed out to “mug lairs”.
When Queensland selectors release their team for Game One this year the names Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk will both be absent for the first time since 2004 and their successors will be the subject of much conjecture until the series kicks off in Melbourne on June 6.
Given his stunning debut at five-eighth in Game Three last year many believe Munster is the frontrunner to retain the No.6 jersey but the 23-year-old’s behaviour in the wake of Melbourne’s grand final triumph has raised concerns within the rugby league fraternity.
An Instagram post with English cricketer Jonny Bairstow last week indicated that his abbreviated pre-season might need to be very thorough if he is to start the 2018 season at the weight he finished a 2017 coming-out party that included club, state and national triumphs.
It wasn’t long ago that Munster was playing for the Central Queensland Capras and Easts Tigers in the Intrust Super Cup and Miles said it was critical that the Maroons coaching staff and senior players guide him through this important stage of his career.
“Munster has gone from the Easts Tigers here in the (Queensland) comp to playing in the Melbourne system, playing for Queensland, winning a premiership with Melbourne and winning a World Cup, all in one year,” Miles said.
“That doesn’t happen too often what’s important from our perspective is how he’s handled all the success.
“A lot has happened in a very, very short space of time and a lot of players handle it, and a lot of players can bring themselves undone.
“That’s why you have these people around them at this important stage of their careers, the Cameron Smiths, Billy Slaters, GIs (Greg Inglis) and Matty Scotts, so if these guys look like getting in front of themselves you expect those guys to pull them straight into line.
“We don’t give Queensland jerseys away to mug lairs or people who don’t respect what’s gone before them.”
There are no such concerns over Michael Morgan who despite never starting in the halves for Queensland to date has all but wrapped up one of the crucial playmaking positions for the Maroons providing he is fit and available.
Seen as a future Origin captain by Queensland officials, the absence of Thurston for the back half of the NRL season allowed Morgan to emerge as an elite playmaker and first-choice Kangaroos five-eighth.
When Munster was preferred at No.6 for the deciding game of last year’s Origin series Morgan happily accepted a role in the centres, a selflessness that Miles said is never forgotten at the selection table.
“He’s always played an important role for us for the betterment of the team and you don’t forget those things,” Miles said.
Not since Wayne Bennett issued Origin debuts to 10 players in Game One of the 2001 series has so much new blood been injected into the Maroons line-up than the eight first-timers in 2017.
It was an overnight generational change that didn’t yield a single series to the Blues and Miles indicated it is a process that must continue to ensure further Queensland dominance.
“We’ve got to get these guys in and expose them to exactly what it’s taken to have this decade of dominance,” he said.