‘They’re all very humble’: No bad blood between Storm and Panthers players as Kangaroos prepare for crucial Kiwis clash

Vibes are high in Kangaroos camp with players going from grand final rivals to good mates ahead of this week’s clash with the Kiwis.

Kangaroos hooker Harry Grant has laughed off suggestions that there’s any lingering tension between he and the Penrith players in the Australian squad as they look to build on last week’s clunky win over Tonga when they face New Zealand on Sunday.

Grant made a whopping 51 tackles in the grand final loss to the Panthers a couple of weeks ago, but he says he and fellow Storm star Xavier Coates have had no issues with Penrith players Dylan Edwards, Isaah Yeo and Lindsay Smith in camp.

It comes after Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster revealed he and Penrith back-rower Liam Martin didn’t get along during a Kangaroos tour, although they seemed fine when they faced each other during grand final week.

Harry Grant has nothing but respect for Penrith players after they were too good in the grand final. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“Everything is pretty good to put that past us and move on,” Grant said.

“You have a game that you have for 80 minutes that you strive to achieve and you’ve got to give them so much respect. If anything, you learn from them, be surrounded by them during the week and see how they go about their business.

“They’re all very humble and hard-working good blokes so I don’t think they’re giving us any stick or hard times, just as Xavier and I wouldn’t be giving them any.”

The positive vibes in camp are music to Mal Meninga’s ears, with the Kangaroos coach hoping to see more attacking fluency this weekend after a clunky display from his new-look spine in Brisbane.

Meninga has stuck with the same 17 that got the job done, and Grant is confident they’ll be better for the run after missing a few opportunities which they normally would have iced.

“We needed that game on the weekend to get a feel for each other’s performances and each other’s games,” he said.

“I’ve played with Tommy (Dearden) a bit, but it was my first time playing with Mitch (Moses) at seven and Dyl at one. They’re both the highest quality players you can get so I’m really excited to build on that again this week.”

New Zealand stunned Australia in last year’s final. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

While their attack was slightly off last week, Grant was pleased with his side’s shutout in defence ahead of their showdown with the Kiwis who embarrassed them 30-0 in last year’s final.

The experienced dummy-half isn’t worried about playing in front of a sold-out crowd in Christchurch, with Grant not focusing on what happened 12 months ago.

“It was obviously disappointing (what happened) last year, but we can’t change that. We can’t dwell on that. It is a new team and we can just learn from it,” he said.

“I think we are putting things in place to learn from that and go again this week. Defence is a massive one. You win games on defence.

“A lot of guys are fresh to the team and to the Test match arena and they are bringing their strengths and thriving in camp.

“We have addressed last year, but I don’t think this series should be based on last year, or that we should be focusing on that too much.”

Originally published as ‘They’re all very humble’: No bad blood between Storm and Panthers players as Kangaroos prepare for crucial Kiwis clash