Cameron Munster’s moving tribute to his late father after leading Maroons to Origin win
Cameron Munster looked to the heavens when he led the Maroons out for the Origin finale and asked his late father for energy – 80 minutes later he revealed the toll the week had taken upon him.
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Cameron Munster has delivered a touching tribute to his late father as Queensland coach Billy Slater lauded the Maroons skipper’s courage after playing in one of the great Origin series victories.
Munster led Queensland to a history-making State of Origin series win on Wednesday night after the Maroons stunned NSW 24-12 in Sydney to regain the shield.
The Queensland captain was rocked by the sudden death of his father Steven Munster at the weekend and left Camp Maroon to be with his family in Central Queensland.
Despite being shattered by the unexpected death of his dad, Munster immediately made the decision to play in the series decider at Accor Stadium.
He rejoined his Maroons teammates in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon and played a pivotal role alongside halfback Tom Dearden, who was crowned player of the series.
The famous victory was Munster’s second game leading the Maroons after he took over the captaincy from Daly Cherry-Evans following Queensland’s Game One loss.
Munster looked to the heavens when he led the Maroons on to enemy soil in front of a blue sea of 80,256 fans in the sold-out series finale and asked his late father for energy following a turbulent week.
“I just asked him to (give me) as much energy as he can,” Munster said.
“He (didn’t have) a whole heap of energy, he was a big boy, but I needed 10 per cent of him.
“I love him and obviously I’ll grieve and deal with what I have to deal with (now).
“I went out there and it’s one of those things…I had to go out there to earn it, we all had to earn.
“It wasn’t written for us. We had to go out there and work hard.
“I just have so much love for this team and our state and I’m sure the other team do as well, but it’s hard to put into words.”
Slater was able to empathise with Munster given his father, Ron Slater, died in January.
The coach wouldn’t have begrudged Munster for withdrawing from the game, but that was never a thought.
“That’s as courageous and brave as I’ve ever seen,” Slater said of Munster’s decision to play.
“I lost my dad in January. I know what it’s like. I know how it feels. Our dads are our heroes.
“I don’t know how he did it, but within 10 minutes of sitting with him in his room on Sunday morning he looked at me and he said ‘Bill, I’m playing’.
“I know he wanted to, I know his dad would have wanted him to, and boy, that’s one proud dad sitting up there watching his boy.”
Munster said he initially didn’t want to leave camp because his absence would have affected Queensland’s preparations.
But Slater insisted the champion five-eighth spend time with his grieving mother and sister before heading to Sydney for the game.
“I was leaning towards not (going home) because I didn’t want to let Bill or Queensland down but Bill told me I needed to go home and I was so grateful that he made me go home,” Munster said.
“It was a decider. I was in camp the whole week, I knew the preparation.
“It would have been a really tough job for Bill and the coaching staff to put someone in and understand the way we wanted to play.
“It was an easy decision for me. Queensland is everything to me. I was born there and I love the Maroon.
“The way that the team got up for me…I’ll be sitting there when I’m 80 years of age remembering 2025.”
Returning Maroons prop Josh Papalii said the team made a pact to win for their captain.
“Munny was going through what he was going through and as a playing group it’s all about family first,” he said.
“We knew Munny was going to turn up and be ready for this game and we just had to make sure we were well prepared for his return
“I’m so happy that we got the win for our skipper. It shows the special bond that we have.”
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