Representative five-eighth Cameron Munster says he’s very happy to hand the Melbourne captaincy reins back to Harry Grant after a disappointing fortnight in charge.
Speaking at Storm training ahead of Friday night’s qualifying final against the Canterbury Bulldogs at AAMI Park, Munster acknowledged the Storm has been well below its best in losses to the Roosters and Broncos.
However, it’s something the 30-year-old blames primarily on attitude rather than the absence of key players including the in-form Grant who was serving a two-game suspension.
“It hasn’t been a great couple of weeks, leaking 70 points in two games,” Munster admitted.
MORE: ‘Can of worms’: Calls for NRL judiciary overhaul following Nicho Hynes backflip
“I didn’t get the boys up (as fill-in captain), so hopefully Harry can turn that around this week,” he added before suggesting complacency may have played a role in the Storm’s two losses, having already secured a top-two finish.
“I know it hasn’t been ideal for Melbourne fans, pretty disappointing, but it wasn’t really going to change a whole heap (winning or losing).”
‘It’s an attitude adjustment’
Munster also gave credit to the Storm’s most recent opponents, the Sydney Roosters and Brisbane Broncos, arguably the NRL’s most in-form teams heading into the finals series.
“We had two teams playing for their seasons—they played great footy against us and in both of those games we just fell away, which is the most disappointing thing,” he said.
“It’s an attitude adjustment for us, that’s all it is.
“Rugby league is a simple game, we just need to go out and play harder. The Broncos and the Roosters did that better than us and they did it for longer.
“In finals it’s all about being able to stay in that grind, and the Doggies are one of the best teams at that so we need to make sure we bring our A game.”
Looking ahead to the Bulldogs clash on Friday night, Munster was confident there would be no risk of complacency with the huge motivation of a home preliminary final awaiting the winner.
“There’s nothing more motivating than being 80 minutes away from a preliminary final—there might be just 160 minutes left to making a grand final,” he said.
“Whatever we have to do, we have to do.”