‘That hurt the team a little bit’: Munster keen to bounce back from ‘hot and cold’ performance

Cameron Munster is the first to admit he wasn’t at his best last week, but a return to the halves could relaunch the Storm’s attack.

The Storm will need to be a lot more disciplined if they want a repeat of last year’s Anzac Day thrashing. Picture: Daniel Pockett / Getty Images

Cameron Munster has described his performance against the Sea Eagles as “hot and cold” and claims the Storm must address its discipline if it wants to avoid becoming the latest team to fall to the resurgent Warriors.

Nick Meaney’s delayed concussion symptoms resulted in Munster moving from five-eighth to fullback where he’s played plenty of footy in the past, but the switch didn’t have the desired effect, with the rep star failing to ignite Melbourne’s attack.

Munster was held to a season-low 92 running metres as the Storm managed just one try in the bruising 18-8 loss which snapped a three-game winning streak.

The Sea Eagles blunted Munster’s attack with a number of clever kicks. Picture: Cameron Spencer / Getty Images

He’s set to return to the halves for the Anzac Day clash against the Warriors, with Meaney back on deck and ready to reclaim the kicking tee.

Munster is unlikely to spend much time at fullback this season, with the Storm set to call on Ryan Papenhuyzen when he returns from a knee injury, while young gun Sua Fa’alogo is seen as an exciting future prospect.

But there will be times during games when he may have to shift to the back, and he knows he has the latent to make more of an impact than he did last week.

“It was probably hot and cold at times,” said Munster, who was caught out of position for Manly’s first try.

“I showed glimpses at certain stages that I can play back there, but then showed stages where I was leaning back at times.

“I’m used to playing five-eighth a bit more, where my role is a little bit different, but it’s something I need to adapt to. At some stages I’ll probably have to go back there if ‘Means’ or whoever’s our fullback goes down.

“I’m just getting that balance right, but on the weekend against Manly I didn’t get that balance right. I was probably left wanting at certain stages of the game and out of position, and that hurt the team a little bit.”

Munster returns to the left edge where he hopes to build on his combinations with Trent Loiero, Justin Olam and Xavier Coates. Picture: Graham Denholm / Getty Images

Munster’s move hurt Melbourne’s left edge, which has been firing lately, including four tries down that channel in the Round 6 win over the Roosters.

“We had some really good weeks together and we were hitting the ground running and doing things that we haven’t done for a couple of weeks,” he said.

“We played against two quality teams in Souths and the Roosters and had some really good success on that edge, so hopefully we’ll get back to that and get back to the stuff that we were doing the last couple of weeks.

“I know the right edge has been playing some really good footy the last couple of weeks, so we’ve just got to build on that on both sides.”

A long turnaround will allow coach Craig Bellamy to tinker with a few things, with the Storm also set to welcome back Nelson Asofa-Solomona to add some starch to the middle.

His inclusion is a timely one against a Warriors side full of big boppers capable of creating space for the rejuvenated Shaun Johnson.

The Storm will start clear favourites thanks to their 13-game winning streak against the Warriors, which includes a 70-10 drubbing in the corresponding fixture last year.

Shaun Johnson has wound back the clock to have the Warriors inside the top four. Picture: Andy Jackson / Getty Images

But they’ll need to address last week’s poor discipline, which saw two players sent to the sin bin, because there’s a veteran halfback ready to pick them apart if they’re reduced to 12 men.

“I think Shaun Johnson is the most improved player the past couple of weeks,” Munster said.

“I know he’s had a lot of pressure on him and a lot of speculation, but he’s just going out there and playing the style of footy that he wants to play. It’s good to see him back playing the footy that he is.”