Cameron Munster hopes to play on despite horror injury in NRL opener
Cameron Munster has admitted he went into shock at seeing a bone popping out of his left ring finger in Thursday night’s NRL season opener, but maintains he wants to face Canterbury next week.
Munster fought his way through the pain of a compound dislocation in the Storm’s 16-12 win over Parramatta, returning for the second half after two pain-killing needles in the finger.
The five-eighth’s herculean effort included a nifty dummy followed by a step and pass to set up the crucial match-levelling try late in the game, with two of his fingers bandaged in the shape of sausages.
Hurt when he made a tackle on Clint Gutherson in the 27th minute, Munster immediately left the field but returned less than half-an-hour later after seeking treatment.
“I was a bit surprised when I saw it come out. I have never seen a bone come out before,” Munster said. “I felt my finger numb when I got out of that tackle against Gutho and I thought that doesn’t feel right.
“I looked down and there was a bit of bone sticking out. Shock hit and I didn’t really have much emotion. I got off and the doc said I have to put a needle in to numb it up. I’d much rather let it sit there. I hate needles.”
Despite the injury, Munster said he did not have any significant trouble gripping the ball during the tight second half and golden-point finish.
“I bumped it a couple of times. A couple of times I got in a tackle and it was a bit wincy,” he said. “But the numbing needles helped with the pain.
“I just tried passing a little bit more. I probably didn’t run the ball as much as I would like to. At times I didn’t inject myself as much as I would need to. I was probably more of a passer than my running game. It’s something I need to focus on next week.”
Munster was expected to have scans on the finger on Friday, and the Storm are hopeful any surgery will be limited to a clean out of the finger early in the week.
Melbourne have their first home game against Canterbury next Saturday, but are hopeful the 28-year-old will be able to make another unexpected recovery.
“It’s alright, I’ll be fine for next week,” Munster quipped. “I’ll have to see how much pain I am in [Friday]. The numbing needles are still doing a pretty good job at the moment. It’ll be interesting to see how I wake up, and hopefully it doesn’t get infected.
“If I’m only going to be 60 or 70% I’m not going to push it. I’ll make sure I’m 100% before I go back out there again.”
Already without the likes of Ryan Papenhuyzen and Justin Olam, winger Xavier Coates is also expected to join Melbourne’s ever-growing casualty ward with a sternoclavicular joint injury.