Maroons captain Cameron Munster rocked by tragic death of father Steven just days out from Origin decider

Cameron Munster has been rocked by the passing of his father just days out from the Origin decider, with the Queensland captain given time off from Camp Maroon to be with his family.

Queensland captain Cameron Munster has been rocked by the tragic death of his father Steven just days out from the Origin decider.

But in a braveheart act, Munster is determined not to withdraw from the Maroons and will honour his father’s passing by playing in the Sydney decider this Wednesday night at Accor Stadium.

Munster was in Camp Maroon when he learned of his dad’s shock death overnight.

Queensland coach Billy Slater confirmed the news and said the skipper had been given time off to be with his grieving family before rejoining the squad to prepare for the most emotional game of his career.

“Unfortunately we woke to the sad news of the passing of Cameron Munster’s father Steven Munster overnight,” Slater said on Sunday morning.

“Cam will exit camp to be with his family before rejoining his team for the game on Wednesday.

Cameron Munster’s father has sadly passed away just days out from the Origin decider. Picture Lachie Millard

“On behalf of myself and our footy team and the state of Queensland, we send our thoughts, our love and condolences to Steven Munster’s family and friends, in particular his wife Debbie, his daughter Danielle and of course his son Cameron.

“Thanks.”

Steven Munster was one of his son’s biggest supporters and loved travelling to games with wife Debbie to watch the Maroons and Melbourne star in action.

In an interview with this masthead in April 2020, during the Covid pandemic, Munster opened up about his dad’s health issues.

“Mum has high blood pressure and Dad has had diabetes for a long time,” he said at the time.

“If either one of them was to get (sick) they would be in serious trouble.

Cameron Munster with parents Deborah and Steven. Picture: Instagram

“Dad has had diabetes for a long time, he’s not the best at looking after himself with it.

“He’s been told he has a 10 per cent chance of living if he gets sick (with Covid), so that’s pretty scary for me.

“Mum has had high blood pressure since I was born – maybe I gave it to her – but she is pretty good always taking her medication.”

It is understood the Maroons gave Munster the option of standing down but the new Queensland skipper is adamant about playing on to pay homage to his old man at Homebush.

Speaking before his dad’s passing, Munster said he was bracing to be booed by Blues fans that “hate us” and is plotting payback on NSW to avenge the most heartbreaking loss of his Origin career.

Cameron Munster will be playing for his father when he leads his state out for the decider. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Labelled the new-age Wally Lewis, Munster says he expects to be jeered just like ‘The King’ when he leads the Maroons into the NSW cauldron.

Lewis thrived on the verbal abuse from NSW fans during his golden reign and Munster, buoyed by his series-saving masterclass in Origin II, is relishing being public enemy No.1 at Homebush.

The King won a record eight man-of-the-match awards in the Origin arena, while Munster picked up his third best-on-ground gong after inspiring the Maroons’ 26-24 fightback in Perth.

Now the Queensland captain has warned NSW he can get better and couldn’t care less if he is booed by the Blues in his history-making quest to lift the Origin shield on Sydney soil.

No Queensland team in Origin’s 45-year history has recovered from 1-0 down to win a series with back-to-back victories on the road – and Munster says the Maroons will feed off NSW’s hate campaign.

Billy Slater addresses the sad death of Cameron Munster's father with support from the Maroons squad.

“There will be a whole heap of people in that crowd that will hate us,” Munster said as the Maroons prepare to arrive in enemy territory on Monday.

“I’m not very loved down there anyway, even when I’m with the Storm.

“It will be an interesting one (the reception he gets) … there will be a lot of boos.”

Reminded that Lewis thrived on being hated by the Blues, Munster said: “Yeah, there’s probably a little bit of a difference between me and Wally.

“He’s got a thousand man-of-the match awards and that’s the reason why it (the Wally Lewis Medal for Origin’s player of the series) is named after him.

“There’s a lot of chat about similarities (between Lewis and Munster), but at the end of the day, there’s only one King and I’m just grateful to be wearing the six jumper that so many great players ended up wearing.

“Hopefully I’ve got another five years left in me that I can maybe try and catch him.”

Munster has won two premierships at Accor Stadium in 2017 and 2020, but he has also experienced heartbreak at a Homebush venue that has sometimes represented his house of horrors.

In 2018, he had the ultimate brain explosion in Melbourne’s grand-final loss to the Roosters, sin-binned twice, including for kicking Joey Manu as Munster’s title dream unravelled.

The following season, the pain extended to the Origin arena.

Munster was Queensland’s fullback in their gut-wrenching loss in the Sydney decider of 2019, when James Tedesco scored the matchwinner, breaking a 20-20 deadlock 30 seconds from full-time to snatch the Origin shield for NSW.

Cameron Munster in the 2019 series. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Blues winger Blake Ferguson raced away and through the final pass to Tedesco, drawing a helpless Munster as Queensland’s last line of defence, to break Maroon hearts.

Munster hasn’t forgotten that moment. It’s payback time.

“It’s mixed,” Munster says of his experiences at Homebush.

“Sometimes you’ve got to go through that adversity to play footy – we’re not always going to have the highs.

“I have played a decider in Sydney, we just got beaten by them in the last two minutes.

“We were down 14 points at one stage and ended up coming back, then Tedesco scored and broke our hearts.

“There’s a lot riding on this, there’s a lot of history that needs to be broken and things tend to get broken.”

When he led Queensland out for the first time in Origin II, Munster had a steely look in his eyes never seen before from the easygoing larrikin.

The Maroons champion meant business, he duly delivered, and now Munster says he can find an extra gear to rain on the Blues’ title-winning parade.

“I don’t know if it was the captaincy, I just knew I needed to probably deliver,” he said.

“I’m probably going to need to stand up again for Game Three and I’ll make sure I do.

“There will be a lot of people writing us off in the decider but, no, there’s no fear at all.”

Originally published as Maroons captain Cameron Munster rocked by tragic death of father Steven just days out from Origin decider