Munster's admission about late night Slater text after being named QLD captain
Munster admits it's a bitter-sweet feeling taking over the captaincy from his 'close mate' DCE but is 'excited' to be handed the honour of leading his state. But the Storm playmaker said he thought Slater was ready to deliver some bad news when he texted Munster to have a late-night conversation at Maroons camp.
'At 9:30 last night Billy just messaged me saying 'are you around?'. I said 'yeah, I'm just sitting in my room' and he's like 'come to my room',' Munster told reporters on Tuesday. 'I was thinking 'what could this be about?' I could be getting dropped or maybe I'm 18th man or something like that.'
The news turned out to be better than Munster could have imagined, with Slater choosing the five-eighth to lead the state, ahead of other Maroons captaincy candidates Patrick Carrigan, Harry Grant and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui - the latter two of which are skippers at their clubs. 'Billy just brought me into the room, said 'look mate, I want you to be the captain for Queensland and I think you will do a great job',' he said.
'He pretty much just told me to lead by my actions, I don't need to be a talker or go out there and try to motivate the boys, they have enough motivation as it is.' Munster has always been regarded as a rugby league larrikin but has grown into a leadership role at Melbourne and is undeniably one of Queensland's most passionate and influential players. Even still, captaining his state is something he never imagined.
'It's pretty emotional, if you asked me that question five or ten years ago everyone would have laughed in your face,' Munster said. 'I think I have developed into a bit of a leadership role over the last three or four years, grown up a little bit. I know that's hard to say."
Munster says it's 'disappointing' to see his good friend Cherry-Evans axed from the side and feared replacement No.7 Tom Dearden might take his spot, instead of the former skipper's. 'He's been playing some great footy, unfortunately one of my good mates Chez had to be left out, he's breathing down both our necks, Tommy,' the new Maroons skipper said.
'We had to find a spot for him and look he's been playing some great footy the past couple of years... made that position his own for Australia. I'm really fortunate to play alongside him and I am really excited to see what combination we can bring on Wednesday.'
Slater looks set to make a number of eye-opening changes to his squad as they look to keep the Origin series alive in Perth. Having dropped Beau Fermor and brought Kurt Capewell into the squad, the Maroons coach has named the veteran Warriors player to start in the back row alongside Reuben Cotter, with Jeremiah Nanai shifting to the bench.
But the biggest shock centres around the demotion of veteran lock Carrigan, who has been named to start off the bench, with Slater handing the No.13 jersey to Storm star Trent Loeiro. Bulldogs utility Kurt Mann takes over the No.14 role from Dearden after missing out on Game 1 as 18th man, with that role set to go to controversial Brisbane playmaker, Ezra Mam. Jack Howarth and Corey Horsburgh are the other two reserves in the Maroons' 20-man squad.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ireland's uncapped 13
With 16 players on British and Irish Lions duty this summer, interim Ireland head coach Paul O'Connell's 33-man squad for this summer's Tests against Georgia and Portugal features 13 uncapped players. BBC Sport NI takes a closer look at those hoping to feature in green for the first time. Tom Ahern has been recognised by O'Connell after an impressive season with Munster, during which he made 19 appearances including five off the bench in the Champions Cup. The 25-year-old lock made his Munster debut in 2020, has earned 65 caps and was part of the 2022-23 United Rugby Championship title-winning squad. In 2023-24, he scored eight tries in 23 outings. Advertisement Ahern, from County Waterford, featured for the Ireland under-20s during the 2019 World Rugby Under-20 Championship and was part of the 2022 Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa. At under-20 level, he also helped Ireland win the Triple Crown during the Covid-hit 2020 Six Nations. While his progress has been hindered by injuries, he has long been on the radar of Ireland's senior coaching staff. Invited to train with the squad during the 2021 autumn Tests and the past couple of Six Nations campaigns, Ahern hopes to finally earn his first senior international cap. Capable of playing in the second and back rows, the 6ft 9in forward could learn a great deal under O'Connell, another totemic second row to have emerged from Munster. He was nursing a hamstring injury but was passed fit on Tuesday.
New York Times
16 hours ago
- New York Times
Why the Blues traded Zack Bolduc for Logan Mailloux and what they said about his past
As they prepared for the 2021 NHL Draft, the St. Louis Blues had the No. 17 pick and liked defensive prospect Logan Mailloux. 'His draft year, he was dealing with things off-ice,' Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said Tuesday, referring to charges that he shared intimate photos of a woman without her consent. 'There was a request by the player not to be drafted, so we didn't take him with our pick. And then Montreal did.' Advertisement Instead, the Blues took forward Zack Bolduc with their pick. Four years later, St. Louis and the Montreal Canadiens swapped the players in what Armstrong called 'an old-fashioned hockey trade' on the first day of free agency. The Blues sent the Canadiens a forward who finished eighth in balloting for the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) in 2024-25, and the Canadiens sent the Blues a defenseman who was named to the AHL's Top Prospects team this season. It was a bit of a surprising trade, but maybe it shouldn't have been as St. Louis and Montreal have been linked the past couple of weeks as potential partners. That speculation centered on Blues' leading scorer Jordan Kyrou — not Bolduc and Mailloux — before his no-trade kicked in at 11 p.m. Central on Monday. The Blues were happy with Bolduc's progress in his first full NHL season, breaking out with 19 goals and 36 points in 72 games. But with Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich, Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud anchoring the wings on their top two lines, it was an area of surplus. 'It was very difficult to trade Bolduc, but when I look at our depth on the wing, there's only so much ice time, and we were able to take a player that we have very, very high expectations for in Bolduc and turn that into a defenseman,' Armstrong said. 'Then you look at our depth on the right side of defense, and our top players are into their 30s. We said, 'If we don't get involved in something like this, when is the next player like (Mailloux) going to be available?' 'We used a No. 1 pick last year to get (Adam) Jiricek, but adding Mailloux fills a void for us in our group today and tomorrow. In a league where you have to give something to get something, we gave something that we had, and Montreal gave something on the right defense that they have a surplus of. Time will tell how it works out, but I think both sides are excited.' Advertisement The Blues also attempted to get right-shot defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders last week, but Montreal made the deal instead and signed an eight-year, $76 million contract ($9.5 million average annual value). So the Canadiens suddenly had some depth in the area, which gave them the flexibility to move Mailloux. Mailloux, 22, was the No. 31 pick in 2021 and has played just eight games in the NHL, in which he has two goals and five points. He's played 135 games with the AHL's Laval Rocket, with 26 goals and 80 points. 'He's an excellent skater, and he's got an excellent shot,' Armstrong said. 'He's learning the game from a defending standpoint, but we think he's NHL-ready now. I talked to him and I told him he has a job now and it's his job to come into camp and keep it. 'We're going to bring him in and we're going to grow with him. During the year, we always rate prospects, and we felt that he's a top-four-talented NHL defenseman and maybe a little bit higher. Time is going to tell our scouting skills.' Montreal GM Kent Hughes had high praise for Mailloux, even after trading him Tuesday. 'He had an exceptional rookie season in the AHL,' Hughes said. 'We sent him back to the AHL to work on the defensive side of his game and continue his preparation for his NHL career. The trade is just, with the acquisition of Dobson, we had depth on defense and we need forwards.' Mailloux was thrilled to hear from Armstrong that the Blues believe he's NHL-ready. 'I think I'm NHL ready, as well,' he said. 'I'm ready to make that jump full time and hopefully be able to contribute to some wins and some success next year. It's pretty exciting to see what they have going on. They've got a bunch of young talent — some guys who've put up some really good seasons and some young guys who are up-and-coming. Hopefully I fit right in with that age group as well.' The Blues' young core just got a new addition on defense. #stlblues Watch Logan Mailloux's full media availability following Tuesday's trade ➡️ — St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) July 1, 2025 Mailloux said that spending the majority of his two-year pro career in the AHL so far has helped his play on both sides of the puck, and it showed when he was called up to Montreal for seven games this season. He had two goals and four points. 'It was just a few games here and there, but it was definitely eye-opening,' Mailloux said. 'I saw how my game can translate and what I have to do to be able to be productive night in, night out. That's one of the main things about playing in the NHL. You've got to be able to bring your game every single match. That's definitely something that I've learned.' Advertisement Mailloux also on Tuesday addressed the legal issues that led him to attempt to withdraw from the NHL Draft. In 2020, then an NHL prospect, Maillioux was issued a fine by Swedish authorities for offensive photography constituting an invasion of privacy. He secretly took a picture of an 18-year-old woman who was engaged in a sexual act with him and shared the image with teammates without her consent. Montreal took him anyway, but he was then suspended indefinitely by the OHL, where he was playing at the time. After participation in the Canadiens' Respect and Consent program, he was reinstated by the OHL and eventually worked his way up the ranks. The NHL also declared itself satisfied with the measures he'd taken before his NHL debut. 'We have met with Logan Mailloux multiple times over the course of the last eight to 10 months,' the league announced at the time. 'We are comfortable that he recognizes the gravity of his prior conduct and is committed to making better and more responsible decisions in the future.' Mailloux didn't sidestep his past on Tuesday, though he also didn't go into specifics about his process. 'To be honest with you, I think it's something that, it's not just in the rear view for me,' he said. 'It's something that I've carried with me every day. It's something that I want to be able to make a positive impact. I think when I dealt with all of that, in the past few years, I've felt I've grown a lot, as a person, off the ice. 'I've been around the community in Montreal, and I look forward to getting to St. Louis and being able to make a positive impact around the community there. Just turning my whole situation, which was a negative situation, being able to turn that into a positive is something I've really tried to do.' The Blues say they are comfortable with Mailloux's past and the person he is now, though they also didn't elaborate on what he's done to prove that to them. Advertisement 'We've done our research on that,' Armstrong said. 'The league has obviously done its due diligence and allowed him into the league. We understand what he did. We also understand that everyone makes mistakes, and he's paid for it, and he'll continue to pay for it. 'We'll continue to work with him. Like all of our players, we're here to support them in any way that we can.' (Photo of Logan Mailloux: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
New York Times
a day ago
- New York Times
NHL trade grades: Canadiens and Blues swap intriguing prospects
Canadiens get: Right winger Zach Bolduc Blues get: Defenseman Logan Mailloux Corey Pronman: Bolduc had a very positive season, following up a so-so first pro campaign by making the Blues and helping them win games. Bolduc's always had impressive talent, which is why he was a mid-first-round pick. He's a strong skater with very good hands and offensive IQ and a big-time shot from range. The issues in his game have always been without the puck. I don't think that's his calling card by any means, but he showed notable improvement this season in particular by getting to the inside more and not being afraid of contact. The steps he's taken this season have him looking like a clear middle-six wing. Advertisement Mailloux had another great year in the AHL, being a top player for Laval. Mailloux has an exciting toolkit. He's a big right-shot defenseman who skates well and has legit skill. On his best shifts when he's carrying the puck up ice, or launching a bomb from the point, he looks like a top-four defenseman in the NHL. With his reach, feet and some physicality, he's a solid enough defender too. Mailloux's biggest issue is his hockey sense. He makes iffy decisions with and without the puck and it could hold him back from being a legit big-minute defenseman in the NHL. His talent is good enough that he should be a regular NHLer. He's stayed out of trouble of late since his draft year suspension. Overall, I have Bolduc rated slightly higher. Mailloux plays a more premium position and is toolsier, and while neither is a perfect player, the holes in Mailloux's game are slightly more glaring. This move makes sense for Montreal in light of the Noah Dobson deal and being able to procure a quality young player is ideal. From the Blues' perspective, they've drafted a lot of wingers high, including just a few days ago, and I understand the dice roll on a talented defenseman. I'm sure they are hoping in some way they are selling high on Bolduc given his very up-and-down play in recent years. Canadiens grade: B+ Blues grade: B- (Photo of Zach Bolduc: Jeff Curry / Imagn Images)
