State of Origin 2022: Cameron Munster helps Queensland Maroons stun NSW Blues
Fresh from ripping NSW to pieces, Cameron Munster revealed the major life change that has turned him into a State of Origin monster - and led to him taking Wally Lewis’ title of ‘The King’.
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NRL Immortal Wally Lewis has labelled Cameron Munster the new king of State of Origin as the Maroons pivot revealed how a strict booze ban inspired his Homebush hatchet job on the Blues.
Munster terrorised NSW in Queensland’s 16-10 boilover in the series opener on Wednesday night, the masterclass coming just six months after his role in the white-powder scandal that left his career at Melbourne hanging by a thread.
As part of heavy sanctions, Munster checked into a rehabilitation facility to address issues with alcohol and gambling and he agreed to stay off the drink for 12 months to get his NRL career back on track.
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Munster’s fightback has been emphatic, underscored by his Game One heroics in which the 27-year-old produced seven tackle busts, charged for 148 metres and twice speared through the NSW defence.
‘The King’ Lewis, Darren Lockyer and Johnathan Thurston are regarded as Queensland’s greatest five-eighths, but The Emperor of Lang Park says Munster is now in their elite playmaking league.
“There is no more talented player at the moment in State of Origin,” Queensland icon Lewis said.
“He is a truly special player. The greater the responsibility, the better Cameron’s performance.
“I love watching him in the No.6 jumper.
“Cameron is a realist. He had some problems to face and he took care of those. It was his business to go through and he took on the challenges last year and has fought back. That’s an indication of his dedication.
“He has been inspirational with his efforts for Melbourne this season and he just gets better when he puts on a Maroon jersey.
“He is up there with any of the best players to have worn the No.6 jumper for Queensland.”
Munster said shunning the demon drink has brought an off-field stability that has helped his on-field consistency.
“It has been a good six weeks for myself,” he said.
“I’m not drinking ... being fitter, being more present in training. I am probably giving a lot more to the younger boys coming through and giving them a bit more guidance.
“It has been easy (staying away from alcohol). It doesn’t faze me to have beers any more. I haven’t had an urge or feel like I am missing out on anything. I can have a good time without having a beer.
“Everyone in camp has been supportive. At the end of the day if Queensland want me to play my best footy, they need to be supportive (of his booze ban).”
Munster said the secret to his game-breaking brilliance in Origin I is his Mad Scientist approach. He believes he bamboozles the Blues because he has no structured plan himself.
“It is a little bit of madness,” he said.
“I don’t really know what I am doing. If I don’t know what I am doing, the defence doesn’t know.
“The first half I was probably a little bit quiet, but I knew I needed to turn it on in the second half and I was lucky enough to do that.”
Maroons skipper Daly Cherry-Evans said his halves partner was downplaying his ability to read a football game.
“What a player,” Cherry-Evans said of Munster.
“A lot of the stuff he does is off the cuff, but he doesn’t get enough credit for his football intelligence.
“His footy IQ is really high, he puts himself in the picture all the time and it’s not a fluke. He gets football and knows where to be in situations.
“I just love the time I get to spend with him in camp. He is the heart and soul of our team. His energy just makes the week so enjoyable, he is genuinely a good person and he is the glue that holds our team together.
“He is as naturally talented as guys like Cam Smith, Billy Slater and JT. He has already done some special things for Queensland and I don’t believe his legacy is finished yet in the Maroon jumper.
“He is up there with our great five-eighths, I am proud to be his teammate.”
COMMENT: WHY THIS WAS AN ORIGIN WIN FOR THE AGES
- By Robert Craddock
It was the night Billy the Kid became William the Conqueror by reigniting old-fashioned Queensland spirit from the glory years.
And, the joy is that the future is as exciting as the present after one of the greatest Origin games – and Queensland victories – in the competition’s 42-year history which the players agreed was one of the hardest games they had played. The legendary Queensland passion is back.
The first nod should go to Queensland’s experienced players with Cameron Munster conjuring and coiling and pinballing his way through traffic like no other player could manage, Valentine Holmes pulling off some sensational saves and Kalyn Ponga as safe as a blue-chip share at the back.
Munster’s clever ball-steal off Stephen Crichton with eight minutes to play was a piece of magic David Copperfield would have proudly claimed. Munster was just superb. In his career-ending autobiography Cameron Smith said of Munster “he is a ratbag but we love him”.
You can see why. In the last five minutes it was as if there were three Munsters on the field – one kicking, one passing and one cleaning up the mess.
But it was the sight of new boys Selwyn Cobbo, Pat Carrigan and Reuben Cotter aiming up which was just as exciting.
What a joy it was to see Queensland scrap like they did in the 1980s when the Origin concept was born in a contest which was not so much a game of football but a brutal demolition derby.
PLAYER RATINGS: MAROONS DEBUTANT WHO CHANGED THE GAME
On Slater’s first day as coach, he invited Wally Lewis to speak to the side as they walked near Lewis’ statue at Suncorp Stadium.
He started by telling them this was not just another game.
You fight for your state and your soul and you never give up. You do whatever it takes.
In Game One, that meant Cobbo and Munster occasionally taking the ball up like forwards, players like Lindsay Collins and Pat Carrigan driving themselves to the point of exhaustion.
This was a win straight out of the Penfold’s bin. Full of heart and soul and players playing for each other and the Maroons’ future – so bleak when they were thrashed in the first two games last year – suddenly looks rosy.
Carrigan looked made for Origin from his first weaving, energetic run through a tiring forward line and his first tackle which buried the formidable Jack Wighton.
And Collins, the former Bronco junior who has quietly made his name for the Roosters, ran with enormous gusto.
When most other forwards were hitting cement walls, he somehow found open doors with some probing runs that at one point made him the most threatening forward.
Cobbo was welcomed to Origin football with a poleaxing tackle by prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard but the fact that the match was played at a Ferrari tempo in the first half never fazed him.
Every Maroons fan knew the key to success this year was winning one of the first two games so that Suncorp Stadium becomes the decider.
The second game in Perth is now almost a bonus. The Maroons can play with freedom and confidence there knowing they have Brisbane up their sleeve as a potential decider.
For Slater, this was vindication of his detailed and expansive coaching style.
He drilled down on the little things in camp and left nothing to chance. To win in Sydney in front of a packed house is an epic achievement. Even when Queensland were winning eight in a row they found winning in Sydney hard graft.
This was a win for the ages.
BILLY AND THE KIDS: MAROONS’ NEW ERA KICKS OFF IN STYLE
Peter Badel
Billy Slater’s new Queensland era kicked off in style as Maroons magicians Kalyn Ponga and Cameron Munster conjured a one-two playmaking punch to engineer a sublime 16-10 boilover of the Blues in Origin I at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
Before a heaving 80,512 sellout, the pro-NSW crowd were silenced by Ponga’s class, Queensland’s rabid debutants and a Maroons coaching greenhorn who nailed his team selection and shocked the Blues in the process.
As a player, 31-game Queensland legend Slater was a ferocious competitor. As a coach, he has brought a high-octane edge to the Maroons, who outhustled and outmuscled the Blues to smash a five-year Sydney Olympic Park hoodoo and steal a crucial 1-0 lead.
The Blues are eyeing a fourth series win in five years but Slater can bring the NSW dynasty crashing down if the Maroons triumph in the return bout in Perth on June 26.
This was a classic Origin-winning narrative for Queensland. Guts. Grit. Unbreakable spirit.
The Maroons trailed 4-0 early — and at one stage lost winger Xavier Coates (28th) and debutant Jeremiah Nanai (44th) to injuries — but Queensland overcame the setbacks, as they so often do, to suggest Slater can transfer his greatness as a player to the coaching sphere.
“I was really nervous, I didn’t know how I would feel,” Slater said. “I didn’t think I would be like Craig Bellamy in the box, but I was pretty close to it.
“Getting ready, I felt like I was playing. I am really proud of the effort. That was Origin.”
DYNAMIC DUO
While Queensland debutants Nanai, Pat Carrigan, Reuben Cotter and Selwyn Cobbo repaid Slater’s faith, it was playmaking princes Ponga and Munster who delivered the magic.
Playing fast and sharp at the advantage line, Queensland won the midfield. That created the latitude for Maroons match-winners Ponga and Munster to pull the trigger.
Trailing 4-0 after 15 minutes, the Maroons hit back with three consecutive tries and the Blues were on the ropes.
Munster was supreme, posting six tackle busts and twice spearing through the middle, while Ponga had promised to dominate this Origin series and he laid down a marker with a sublime cut-out pass for Valentine Holmes’ 55th-minute try which had the Maroons surging at 16-4.
“Kalyn is a great player,” Slater said. “Part of our job is to get the best out of Kalyn and he was never going to let anyone down.”
The Blues launched a desperate late fightback, but the Maroons held their nerve. They deserved to draw first blood.
CHERRY RIPE
Daly Cherry-Evans’ option-taking in the first half was below-par but he hit back in the second stanza with a superb solo try.
The Queensland skipper’s kicking game, which has been potent for Manly at club level this season, lacked its usual precision.
But ‘DCE’ found his running game after the break. From a scrum win in the 44th minute, Cherry-Evans straightened the attack and sliced through for a 12-4 lead. Suddenly, the ambush was on.
PAT ON THE BACK
Carrigan produced one of the greatest debuts by a Maroon in Origin history.
Replacing Josh Papalii in the 16th minute, the Maroons ironman was magnificent. He lifted the tempo immediately with a series of rampaging charges which got Queensland rolling and had NSW scrambling around the rucks.
Without Carrigan’s energy, the Maroons could have easily lost the midfield. He ran like a man possessed. In a 24-minute period of the first half, Carrigan amassed 10 runs and he finished with a barnstorming 145 metres. “His first carry was a momentum shift for us,” Slater said. “He made a real statement with his defence. It was a great debut for Patty.”
DEBUTANTS BALL
Slater’s selection methodology was vindicated. While Coates hobbled off with an ankle injury, Game One debutants Carrigan, Nanai, Cotter and Cobbo all made important contributions.
There were few moments more critical than Cobbo’s clever in-field kick for Dane Gagai’s 36th-minute try which propelled Queensland to a 6-4 half-time lead.
Billy’s Kids are oozing a fresh Queensland spirit. The dark days of last year’s Maroons series debacle have been washed away.
“I didn’t know how I would feel about this group. They feel like my family. I feel a connection to these guys,”
“Reuben Cotter made 51 tackles and played 80 minutes in his debut.
“Everyone has a role in the team. We’ve got improvement in our game.”
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