A “pretty upset” Maroons captain Cameron Munster will return to camp barely 24 hours before this year’s State of Origin decider following the death of his father over the weekend, as he continues to deal with the emotional toll.
Munster left his teammates on Sunday to return to Rockhampton to spend time with his mother and sister after his father Steven suddenly passed away, and 18th man Reece Walsh deputised for the five-eighth in one of the Maroons’ most important pre-match training sessions.
Munster – who was named player of the match in his first game as Queensland captain in Game 2 – will return for the Maroons’ final training on Tuesday afternoon, although coach Billy Slater revealed he may not take part.
“He’s been pretty upset over the last couple of days, but the last couple of days he’s been where he’s needed to be,” he said.
Despite the tragic circumstances, Slater said he hadn’t considered a contingency in case his captain could not play, but warned there was “not a switch” for Munster to flip in order to focus on the match.
“There was a fair bit of uncertainty with Mun [Munster] on Sunday morning when I was sitting in his room, but the one thing he was certain about is he was playing on Wednesday night,” Slater said.
“He didn’t have a lot of answers for a lot of other things, but he gave that one to me pretty straight.”
The coach said the squad’s senior players have stepped up in Munster’s absence in a “sad and sombre” camp, and the entire team was likely to get a “huge boost” given what they have seen their captain endure.
Slater, whose father Ron died in January, said there was not much he could tell Munster, his former teammate at the Storm. “There’s no real words that fix any of this,” he said.
The passing of Munster’s father has tempered the usually fiery build up for a State of Origin decider.
Blues coach Laurie Daley said he wasn’t sure how the Maroons would react, but expressed sympathy for the Munster family.
“You just realise how life can change pretty quickly, and there’s more meaningful things than a game of footy, and I think that puts it all into perspective,” Daley said.
NSW halfback Nathan Cleary is managing a groin injury and will not kick goals for the Blues, and Daley has said Zac Lomax – who kicked two from five in game two – will keep the job.
The coach confirmed winger Brian To’o and prop Payne Haas would both take the field at Accor Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday night.
To’o trained with the team on Monday despite a knee complaint picked up two weeks ago against Canterbury. He was wearing a compression bandage around his left knee when he went walking with his teammates at Homebush on Tuesday morning.
Haas has been managing a back injury, and staff had planned for him to prepare on restricted duties.
Captain Isaah Yeo said they have both earned the right to play despite not being fully fit.
“Payne and Biz [To’o] have been question marks, but that’s been normal for them the whole campaign so far,” he said. “Payne was our man of the match in Game 1, and Biz was our man of the match in Game 2, so off the back of those performances you trust them.”
The Blues are hoping to retain the shield after they defeated Queensland in last year’s decider in Brisbane.
