NRL 2022: Melbourne Storm defeat Penrith Panthers, Cameron Munster stars at fullback
It started out as a positional switch forced by necessity, but Cameron Munster’s loving life at the back for the Storm and that’s where he wants to stay.
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Cameron Munster says a shock switch to the Melbourne No.1 jersey could take his game to new heights in the NRL playoffs, while also revealing Penrith have replaced Manly as his club’s greatest arch rival.
Despite his standing as rugby league’s premiere No.6, Munster says he is ready to now play fullback for the 2022 finals if required – a move which could prove a masterstroke by coach Craig Bellamy.
Outstanding against Penrith in Thursday Night Football, the 27-year-old has now starred in consecutive weeks from the back, having also scored three tries and run for 200m against Gold Coast a week earlier.
With regular fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen ruled out for the year, Munster revealed he is ready to stay at the back, leaving No.7 Jahrome Hughes to partner up with Nick Meaney.
While Bellamy refused to say post match if that would happen, however – saying only that Munster and Meaney could alternate in the role – Storm great Cam Smith revealed in commentary he expects it to happen.
Munster, meanwhile, also suggested his game was best suited to the extra space fullback provides, saying: “I play my best footy when I’m running the ball”.
Against Penrith, the Queensland Origin star orchestrated the opening try, almost scored a couple himself and ran for 142m in total, while also twice saving tries to keep Penrith scoreless for the first time in seven years.
“So it’s going alight,” he laughed when quizzed on the surprise move.
“It’s a little different from five-eighth, I’ve got a more energy in attack which is pleasing.
“So (staying there), it’s an option.
“I’ve just got to keep playing good footy and hopefully keep getting picked at fullback.”
So you’re happy with the move?
“Yeah, for sure,” he continued.
“Playing fullback gives me a little more time and space.
“Obviously (playing six) I’m on the left a lot.
“But at fullback I’m not just parked on one side, I can go back to the right and inject myself when I need to.
“Playing six I’m also making so many tackles in the front line, it takes a little bit out of you at times.
“But at the back I can get those kick returns, get my metres up and get more one-on-ones with someone.”
Munster revealed he had also “missed the open spaces” now again available to him at fullback, saying: “At six, I have to ball play and not run it as much.
“But I feel like with the one on my back I don’t have to worry about organising shape, I get to run more.
“And that’s where I play my best footy, when I’m running the ball.”
Elsewhere, Munster suggested Penrith had now usurped Manly as the Storm’s greatest arch rival.
It followed a week of headlines that saw Penrith deputy chair Greg Alexander, in his role with Fox Sports, blaming Storm for the game’s wrestling tactics before Melbourne boss Matt Trip hit back, dubbing the Panthers “arrogant”.
Asked about the growing rivalry between the two NRL heavyweights, Munster said: “Obviously Manly and Melbourne had that rivalry when the Big Three were playing against Brett Stewart, Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans.
“(But now) I feel like it’s us and the Penrith Panthers.
“It’s been tit for tat the past couple of years.
“They’ve got the wood on us more times recently, so we need to change that.
“We were lucky enough to do it this time, but I know a lot of their guys weren’t playing. Although in saying that, we can only play who we were playing and the boys will take a lot of confidence from the game.”
Quizzed on if he would keep Munster in the No.1 jersey, Bellamy said: “I think we’ll look at it depending on the opposition, the best way to use Munster and Nick (Meaney).
“I’m not quite sure we’ll stick to Munster at fullback all the time. We need to have a chat about that with our leaders and our halves, see what the coaches think and go from there.”
SMITH LIKES WHAT HE SEES FROM MUNSTER
Can Melbourne win a premiership with Cameron Munster at fullback?
Certainly his old captain likes it.
With Storm great Cam Smith, early on in Thursday Night Football, using his Channel 9 commentary role to suggest “it wouldn’t surprise” if rugby league’s greatest five-eighth moves into the No.1 jersey full-time.
In what could prove one of the greatest shifts of the NRL playoffs, Smith is tipping Munster to stay permanently at fullback as Storm look to do what many are already tipping impossible – go all the way — with Ryan Papenhuyzen gone for the year.
Coming off a starring performance at fullback last week against Gold Coast – when he scored three tries, ran for 199m and made eight tackle busts – Munster doubled down big time against arch rivals Penrith.
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While the match saw both sides missing a host of players, the 27-year-old was outstanding at the back as Melbourne upset Penrith 16-zip.
Apart from running for 142m, or making five tackle busts and orchestrating his side’s first try, Munster also saved two in an outstanding defence performance that helped keep Penrith scoreless for the first time in seven years.
So as for Munster staying at fullback?
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he finished the year there,” said Smith, who you expect knows more than a little knowledge of such things. “Off the back of his performance last week – fantastic.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he stays there.”
This too, only about five minutes into a match where Munster went and put himself in everything against Penrith.
Like midway through the first half, for example, when in the space of two minutes the Queensland Origin star not only stopped a charging Izack Tago from scoring, but then went and orchestrated the game’s first try with a smart short side play.
What a game from Cameron Munster... and some solid chat from Brandon Smith after the win ðŸ˜ðŸ˜†#NRLPanthersStormpic.twitter.com/FfNvD8VuFn
— Triple M NRL (@TripleM_NRL) August 11, 2022
Which isn’t to say he was perfect.
A truth proved by an early knock on and then, later in the first half, a poor pass out of dummy half which caused Nelson Asofa-Solomona to knock on working out of his quarter.
Elsewhere, Munster also came within one bounce, maybe two of scoring late in the first and, with 15 minutes gone in the second half, scrambled outstandingly on his tryline to push Brian To’o over the sideline when the Penrith winger looked certain to score.
Then, within a blink, the Storm fullback was charging away upfield.
Wonderfully, Munster even caused a few heart palpitations for his coach Craig Bellamy when early in the second half he fell awkwardly in a tackle and appeared in trouble.
Clutching his knee as he rose, the Storm star then hobbled back into place before eventually finding his stride again.
Soon after, making that trysaver on To’o.
All of which went a long way to proving Munster, after working overtime on all areas of himself – physically and mentally – recently, now has everything required to cover all that ground from the back.
So even with Jahrome Hughes set to return as early as next week, Melbourne legend Smith reckons Munster will stay at the back, with Nick Meaney at five-eighth.
While the win was crucial for Melbourne’s top four hopes, the Panthers are hardly hitting the panic button given they were not only without suspended stars Nathan Cleary and James Fisher-Harris, but Jarome Luai (knee), Taylan May (shoulder) and fullback Dylan Edwards – who was a late withdrawal with a sternum injury.
STEELY STORM SHUT OUT PANTHERS TO REIGNITE TITLE BID
It was touted as a heavyweight bout between two sides who hate each other and it even featured some late biff in the Riff, but it was Melbourne who issued a Storm warning that should strike fear into the rest of the NRL.
It was less than a month ago that Craig Bellamy said he was unsure whether the Storm could turn things around to go on a famous premiership run after they’d just lost their fourth game on the trot.
But the legendary Storm coach might need to be a bit more arrogant after three-straight wins, including a statement victory over the defending premiers on Thursday night that has them primed for a top-four finish.
“It was important for us because we’ve been hanging around the bottom of the top four,” Craig Bellamy said. “I thought that was our best performance for quite some time. That’s as well as we’ve defended for a year or two.”
The Storm were without halfback Jahrome Hughes (shoulder) but they smelled blood in the water and feasted on the makeshift Panthers spine in a performance reminiscent of years gone by when they were the NRL’s apex predators.
It was a night to remember for the small contingent of Storm fans at BlueBet Stadium, and it was Melbourne’s biggest human who stole the show with a brutal display in an unfamiliar role.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona was like a wrecking ball on the right, terrorising Penrith’s edge defenders while at the same time blunting Viliame Kikau’s impact by simply clogging up gaps in the line.
The man mountain relished the extra room out wide with 62 metres, five tackle busts and three offloads in a barnstorming 37-minute stint as the visitors racked up an insurmountable 16-0 lead by halftime.
While he did plenty in attack, his most telling play was in defence when he somehow denied a rampaging Kikau over the line, which then led to David Nofoaluma’s first try in Storm colours from the ensuing set.
INJURIES MOUNT FOR MOUNTAIN MEN
They’ve enjoyed one of the smoothest years imaginable, but things are starting to look a bit rough for the Panthers just a few weeks out from the finals.
The defending premiers were missing starting halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai as well as powerhouse prop James Fisher-Harris, while they were also dealt a massive blow before kick-off when courageous fullback Dylan Edwards was ruled out after he copped a battering in Canberra last week.
Things got worse on Thursday night with NSW representative Liam Martin rolling his left ankle so badly that he had to be helped from the field by two trainers and was on crutches in the dressing room.
Penrith’s depth is the envy of the league but even they can’t win the comp if they continue to rack up injuries every week, and Thursday’s performance will give their rivals hope that they are in fact fallible.
The mass changes took their toll with the Panthers producing their worst half of football at home since 2017.
They enjoyed the bulk of possession and territory after the break but couldn’t cross the stripe as they were held scoreless at home for the first time since 2015 against who else but the Storm.
“I thought there were some combination issues for us tonight,” Ivan Cleary said. “It was a good lesson for our younger guys.”
PRECIOUS OLAM
Justin Olam has failed to match his dazzling form of 2021, but the centre built of granite produced his best game of the season as a replenished Storm backline showed how potent it can be when the troops are back on deck.
The hit man produced two monstrous shots in defence that Jaeman Salmon and Brian To’o will be feeling for weeks, but it was his dazzling speed that caught the Panthers by surprise.
Olam scorched his way down the sideline to set up the returning Nick Meaney with a pinpoint chip kick and nearly produced an identical play for Cameron Munster to end the half.
OH SO CLOSE
Waqa Blake produced the finish of the year last week but it would’ve been a short time at the top if Xavier Coates had been able to pull off the most miraculous grounding of all time.
The Storm winger’s body was in Melbourne yet he somehow managed to stretch his arm towards the line, only for the ball to come free an inch from the line after a big shot by Charlie Staines.
It wasn’t the only unique piece of play with Tui Kamikamica playing a big part in Brandon Smith’s try when he pushed ‘the Cheese’ into a hole before he sped straight past Staines.
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