'We'll get around him': Cameron Munster confirmed to lead out Queensland for Origin III after his father tragically died
Munster was in Maroons Camp when he got word his father Steven tragically died in Central Queensland on Sunday.
The newly appointed Queensland Captain left his team's camp to be with his family and indicated to Slater he would play Game 3 in Sydney.
The Maroons coach confirmed on Tuesday that Munster will fly down to Sydney to re-join his Queensland teammates.
'Cam will arrive this afternoon, so it'll be good to see him, I can't wait to give him a hug,' Slater said.
'Naturally he's been pretty upset over the last couple of days, but he's been where he's needed to be with his mum and his sister. He's spent some time with them on his way back into camp now.
'They are tragic circumstances, and it was a real sad and sombre mood over the last couple of days. I'm sure the lads are looking forward to seeing him and getting around him as well.'
Slater said there was uncertainty over whether Munster would play, but the Queensland captain said he was 'certain' about representing his state for his 21st Origin appearance.
'That's one thing that he was very firm with. He didn't have a lot of answers for a lot of other things, but he gave that one to me pretty straight,' Slater said.
'Once he said 'I'll be playing Wednesday night' that was it for me.
'We'll get around him this afternoon, we've got a captain's run. Will he take part in that? I'm not sure yet.'
Slater said he understands how Munster feels after he lost his father Ron Slater earlier this year in January.
'I haven't dealt with this as a coach, but I've dealt with it as a person,' he said.
'I lost my father in January, so I know what it's like, and Cam's an inspiration for many people.
'He's a hero to many people in Queensland, and I can only imagine his dad would have been his first inspiration and his first hero.
'He'd be hurting right now and that's why he needs us and he needs his family and you know the one thing about Cam is he's never let anyone down in the past and I don't expect that in the future.'
The Melbourne Storm five-eighth was man of the match in his first game as captain, as Queensland won 26-24 in Game 2 at Perth.
Queensland's victory has set up a series decider in Sydney, after New South Wales won Game 1 in Brisbane, 18-6.
The 30-year-old could cement himself in the history books and lead Queensland to become the first State of Origin side in 45 years to lose the first game and win the next two away from home.
The Maroons are expected to wear black armbands when they take the field.
Game 3 of State of Origin will kick off at 8:05pm (local time) Wednesday at Accor Stadium in Sydney.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
State of Origin game three: Live scores, updates, analysis
Will NSW get the job done in front of a sea of Blatchy's Blues? Or will the Maroons silence Sydney and take the Origin shield back across the border? Here's what you need to know ahead of the decider.
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
History, logic and form says NSW win. But three men will decide the series
I can't wait to watch the champion playmakers square off, and no one is under more pressure to perform than Cameron Munster and Nathan Cleary – they are the architects of their side's attack and the leading kick options. Everyone in rugby league sends their condolences to the Munster family after Cameron's father, Steven, passed away suddenly. For the Queensland skipper to lead his state just a couple of days afterwards is such a huge effort. But that's what Steven would want too; the Munster family knows the responsibility that comes with captaining the Maroons, and they know how mentally tough Cameron is. And when he has that extra motivation, Munster just goes to another level. When he came out of the tunnel in Perth, the Queensland No.6 had a look on his face that I had never seen before, and he went out and kept the series alive. I think he's in for another huge performance on Wednesday night, and if he starts dancing down the Maroons left edge and getting offloads to a player such as Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, it's lights out for the Blues. For NSW, it's up to Cleary to go with him. This is Nathan's chance to really stand up, own this game and deliver a result. I have no doubt he will. The Blues have the advantage on the edges with Latrell Mitchell and Angus Crichton on the left, and Liam Martin and Stephen Crichton on the right. Queensland's Rob Toia has defended well, but Brian To'o still scored three tries down his edge in Origin II, while Gehamat Shibasaki is an unknown on debut opposite Crichton. For NSW, Cleary and Jarome Luai, the best time to go wide to their strike weapons will be around the halfway line when the defensive line can be passive and the wingers are dropping back for a kick. I'd love to see NSW offloading more as well to create unstructured defence and pockets to attack – and again, this is on Cleary and Luai to be pushing up around the ball and encouraging their runners to get their arms free. Queensland's Harry Grant controlled the ruck in slippery Perth conditions superbly, and it's an area the Blues playmakers need to match on what is a typically dewy Accor Stadium surface. There's no rain forecast, but very little wind either on Wednesday night, which will make for slippery conditions and bring short, attacking kicks to the fore. If moving the ball laterally becomes difficult, Cleary and Luai (who laid on two Origin II tries with short kicks) have the advantage. The other man in the middle There's just no avoiding it. Unfortunately, all eyes will be on Ashley Klein after the Blues were pinged with an 8-0 first-half penalty count in Origin II. Most of those penalties were warranted, and NSW need to get both their discipline and errors in their half sorted. The penalty counts for Origin I: 15 penalties and six set-restarts, and Origin II: 12 penalties and eight set-restarts, have felt well above what we usually get for these games. And when you think about how influential a run of penalties is at NRL level, well, it's magnified at Origin level. Just look back at the Blues' game two win at the MCG last year, they led 32-0 at halftime, with six tries scored off the back of penalties and Queensland mistakes. If the referee can stay out of proceedings, and it's a big if, NSW have possibly the biggest advantage of all in Origin footy – which is all about kick reception footy when your wingers turn into front-rowers. The Blues back three of Dylan Edwards, Brian To'o and Zac Lomax are just streets ahead of Tabuai-Fidow, Xavier Coates and Valentine Holmes when they're bringing the ball out of trouble. In game one, the NSW trio ran for an extra 100 metres compared to their Queensland opponents. But in Perth, To'o covered more ground than the Maroons back three combined, and the Blues fullback and winger more than doubled the Queenslanders output. That speaks to the extra work – a lot of it self-inflicted – that NSW had to do in game two. But there's no doubt they hold the backfield advantage, too. The other match-up I can't wait for is Josh Papalii's Origin return opposite Payne Haas. It will be the job of both he and fellow prop Tino Fa'asuamaleaui to take on the Blues forward leader. Loading Big Papa brings intimidation and experience with him, and while I expect he'll only play 15-20 minutes, it will be all aggression and power planned to inspire the young forwards around him. In all honesty, NSW should win. Throughout Queensland's eight straight series wins, the Maroons had the better players in key positions. This year, the Blues hold that advantage; they're at home and with a slippery surface and I think it will be a tight contest with a few tries deciding the game late. So put your headphones on. Get the Metallica blaring. Because come 8pm on Wednesday night, nothing else matters.
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
History, logic and form says NSW win. But three men will decide the series
I can't wait to watch the champion playmakers square off, and no one is under more pressure to perform than Cameron Munster and Nathan Cleary – they are the architects of their side's attack and the leading kick options. Everyone in rugby league sends their condolences to the Munster family after Cameron's father, Steven, passed away suddenly. For the Queensland skipper to lead his state just a couple of days afterwards is such a huge effort. But that's what Steven would want too; the Munster family knows the responsibility that comes with captaining the Maroons, and they know how mentally tough Cameron is. And when he has that extra motivation, Munster just goes to another level. When he came out of the tunnel in Perth, the Queensland No.6 had a look on his face that I had never seen before, and he went out and kept the series alive. I think he's in for another huge performance on Wednesday night, and if he starts dancing down the Maroons left edge and getting offloads to a player such as Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, it's lights out for the Blues. For NSW, it's up to Cleary to go with him. This is Nathan's chance to really stand up, own this game and deliver a result. I have no doubt he will. The Blues have the advantage on the edges with Latrell Mitchell and Angus Crichton on the left, and Liam Martin and Stephen Crichton on the right. Queensland's Rob Toia has defended well, but Brian To'o still scored three tries down his edge in Origin II, while Gehamat Shibasaki is an unknown on debut opposite Crichton. For NSW, Cleary and Jarome Luai, the best time to go wide to their strike weapons will be around the halfway line when the defensive line can be passive and the wingers are dropping back for a kick. I'd love to see NSW offloading more as well to create unstructured defence and pockets to attack – and again, this is on Cleary and Luai to be pushing up around the ball and encouraging their runners to get their arms free. Queensland's Harry Grant controlled the ruck in slippery Perth conditions superbly, and it's an area the Blues playmakers need to match on what is a typically dewy Accor Stadium surface. There's no rain forecast, but very little wind either on Wednesday night, which will make for slippery conditions and bring short, attacking kicks to the fore. If moving the ball laterally becomes difficult, Cleary and Luai (who laid on two Origin II tries with short kicks) have the advantage. The other man in the middle There's just no avoiding it. Unfortunately, all eyes will be on Ashley Klein after the Blues were pinged with an 8-0 first-half penalty count in Origin II. Most of those penalties were warranted, and NSW need to get both their discipline and errors in their half sorted. The penalty counts for Origin I: 15 penalties and six set-restarts, and Origin II: 12 penalties and eight set-restarts, have felt well above what we usually get for these games. And when you think about how influential a run of penalties is at NRL level, well, it's magnified at Origin level. Just look back at the Blues' game two win at the MCG last year, they led 32-0 at halftime, with six tries scored off the back of penalties and Queensland mistakes. If the referee can stay out of proceedings, and it's a big if, NSW have possibly the biggest advantage of all in Origin footy – which is all about kick reception footy when your wingers turn into front-rowers. The Blues back three of Dylan Edwards, Brian To'o and Zac Lomax are just streets ahead of Tabuai-Fidow, Xavier Coates and Valentine Holmes when they're bringing the ball out of trouble. In game one, the NSW trio ran for an extra 100 metres compared to their Queensland opponents. But in Perth, To'o covered more ground than the Maroons back three combined, and the Blues fullback and winger more than doubled the Queenslanders output. That speaks to the extra work – a lot of it self-inflicted – that NSW had to do in game two. But there's no doubt they hold the backfield advantage, too. The other match-up I can't wait for is Josh Papalii's Origin return opposite Payne Haas. It will be the job of both he and fellow prop Tino Fa'asuamaleaui to take on the Blues forward leader. Loading Big Papa brings intimidation and experience with him, and while I expect he'll only play 15-20 minutes, it will be all aggression and power planned to inspire the young forwards around him. In all honesty, NSW should win. Throughout Queensland's eight straight series wins, the Maroons had the better players in key positions. This year, the Blues hold that advantage; they're at home and with a slippery surface and I think it will be a tight contest with a few tries deciding the game late. So put your headphones on. Get the Metallica blaring. Because come 8pm on Wednesday night, nothing else matters.
