Queensland Captain Cameron Munster Confirms Availability for Origin Opener
Queensland captain Cameron Munster has confirmed his readiness to play in the State of Origin series opener on Wednesday night, despite missing Sunday’s field session. The 31-year-old five-eighth addressed concerns about his absence, explaining that it was a strategic decision made by the team to ensure he is in optimal condition for the crucial match.
Munster joked about the situation during a media appearance on Monday, saying, “I spoke to the media manager, and he thought it wasn’t a good idea to bring my walker out.” He added that Ezra Mam is set to step in if he is ruled out. “You have to listen to the media manager, and he advised me not to bring it out. I’ve been getting some barbs from some of the boys in the team, but, as a group, we just thought it would be beneficial for myself to have yesterday off.”
He explained that the decision came down to his body’s needs. “I’m just not used to doing back-to-back days. I’m getting a little bit older, so when you get a bit older, you understand your body a little bit more. Going out yesterday, I would be pretty sore today, so it’s just a little bit of tightness in the body. We just thought as a group that it was probably the best thing for me.”
This kind of injury drama is not uncommon in the Maroons camp before an Origin match, but Munster insists everything is under control. “A lot of people probably think there’s a little bit of mind games going on, but no, we just thought it wasn’t ideal for me going and not doing yesterday because of the fan day and there was a lot of media around,” he said.
“If I had it my way, I would have loved to train. I was headbutting with the physios and the coaches, but they thought I can always train on captain’s run and get the body right for Wednesday.”
Munster emphasized that he wants to avoid feeling sore or regretful. “It would be nice to be out there yesterday, but at the end of the day, I didn’t want to feel sore and feel sorry for myself today. So I just made sure I’ll be right for Tuesday and Wednesday.”
With Daly Cherry-Evans no longer part of the squad and Tom Dearden injured, the Maroons are relying on Munster to lead alongside rookie Sam Walker. Despite a slow start to the season, Munster has found form recently, scoring three tries in his past two games for Melbourne and contributing three try assists at Magic Round to help the Storm defeat the Eels.
“I know I was not up to scratch with the way I’ve been playing previous years, and I found some form the last couple of weeks,” he said. “It’s just probably myself just wanting to get out there and playing more attacking footy than just going and doing those high-percentage plays.”
Munster believes the key to his improved performance lies in playing more aggressively, which aligns with the current state of the game. “The way the game is being adjudicated and leading to huge scores, it’s required this year,” he said.
However, he remains uncertain about how the Origin opener will be officiated. A few weeks ago, he revealed that he had stopped watching much rugby league due to the way the game looked this year. “It’s a mystery (how Origin will be officiated),” he said. “We just can’t really rely on what the referees are going to do. We just have to be disciplined in every area and every aspect of the game, wherever they give those six-agains or whatever they decide to officiate.”
Munster stressed the importance of adapting to the current style of play. “We just have to move on and get on with our job. You can’t be sitting there kicking cans. I think five or six weeks out, I was probably thinking, ‘this is not rugby league.’ But that’s the way the model is and the product is, so we’ve just got to move on, otherwise you get left behind.”
He noted that the current game demands an attacking mindset. “I think at the moment with the way the game’s playing, you’ve got to be able to attack. You’ve got to be able to defend, but with the scorelines at the moment, when you score 30 points, you’re never comfortable anymore. If you look at those score lines, teams are winning 38-30 and 40-38. So it’s a bit of an attacking game at the moment, and there’s no better person at the moment with the rules than Kalyn Ponga and Sammy Walker in the team.”
