State of Origin 2018: Cameron Munster calls on advice from Queensland greats to retain his composure in Game Three
THE old Cameron Munster would have dropped his head after gifting NSW with a intercept try. But the Maroons five-eighth had the words of Queensland legends to guide him past his error.
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CAMERON Munster used some old advice from Melbourne’s galaxy of greats to rescue he and Queensland from despair at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday.
Munster was instantly heartbroken to throw the intercept pass which snapped an extended
period of Queensland domination in the most agonising fashion when Tom Trbojevic galloped away for a long range try.
Queensland were so deflated they let in another try minutes later just before halftime and went to the break with their collective morale being at bootlace level.
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Munster, tough country-raised hard nut that he is, regained his composure to later set up the matchwinning try to Daly Cherry-Evans.
“When I started my career at Melbourne Cam Smith and Cooper Cronk used to tell me you
cannot go around kicking stones after you make a mistake,’’ Munster said.
“You just have to get on with it. After that mistake I felt I had to step up a bit and I felt I did that.
“I was proud of myself. It did not look great with that intercept I threw for the try and I knew I needed to pull my head in a bit. Gavin Cooper gave me a little pat on the arse and said ‘don’t worry about it, worry about your next job.’
I did that in the second half. At times we made it hard on ourselves but I guess that’s Origin.
“In the second half I was told by Allan Langer and the coaching staff to run the ball more to create more stuff around me. That’s what I did. I ran with great intent to break the line and felt I needed to be more consistent with that.’’
There is mounting excitement in the Queensland camp at the potential of Cherry-Evans and Munster as a halves pair.
Munster likes the combination but is taking nothing for granted and knows the heat will be on when Michael Morgan returns from injury next year.
“I like the way Cherry plays. He has a good running game. He is very silky. He has a good kicking game. We play a similar style of game in that we are both second receiver.
“He is a very smart footballer and I thought Ben Hunt was very good off the bench
and got our go-forward going.
“I don’t know (about the future). We just have to be consistent. We cannot just expect to get the jersey next year.
“It is great having Cherry around. He has obviously played a lot more games than me. Just his leadership and his chat are very important.
“We still have a young side and it is very exciting to see what we can do. We still have so many options. We have Kalyn Ponga and Michael Morgan to come back.’’
Originally published as State of Origin 2018: Cameron Munster calls on advice from Queensland greats to retain his composure in Game Three