Hard Eels put Storm on notice in title race

MELBOURNE may breathe a little easier if the Cowboys can knock Parramatta out of the finals race this weekend.

Storm playmaker Cameron Munster declared Parramatta “very big contenders” for the NRL premiership, and said the Eels’ physicality “rattled” his team last weekend.

“The Eels came out hard for us and we weren’t ready for it, and we were a little bit rattled, to be quite honest,” he said.

Safely through to the preliminary final after the tough 18-16 victory, the Storm will host the winner of Friday night’s semi-final between Brisbane and Penrith.

Munster needs every bit of the break to remedy sore spots following an interrupted season by injury and State of Origin commitments.

The five-eighth missed games early with a fractured cheekbone before a nagging ankle complaint kept him out after a great debut for Queensland in the Origin decider.

“Having this week off will probably help me more than previous years so I’m pretty excited to hopefully play some good football next week and improve from there,” he said.

Munster has struggled in the past month to reach the levels that earned him Maroons selection.

He laid 22 tackles against the Eels, but could only muster 55 metres from 10 carries and no offloads.

He was sin-binned in the first half for a “brain explosion” professional foul for stopping a quick tap, and could only watch as the Eels piled on 10 points with their extra man advantage.

“It was a crucial part of the game for us and hopefully next week it doesn’t happen again,” said Munster.