Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Melbourne star Cameron Munster was done. His mind had been made up. He was leaving the Storm. Come November 1, he would throw himself on the open market, a move that had the potential to spark a frenzy of big-money bids for his services.
Only now can it be revealed how close Munster was to packing his bags and ending a lifelong love affair with the Storm.
“I was done,” Munster told News Corp.
“Trippy [Chair Matt Tripp] and the owners and the club knew that.”
Munster opened up how close he came to leaving Melbourne, his captaincy aspirations and his desire to inspire his own son Jaxon in an expansive interview this week in Manchester, where is a central figure in Australia’s bid to retain the World Cup.
Munster comes across as an old-fashioned larrikin and for much of the time he is. However, even he conceded he was weighed down by contract negotiations with the Storm, which went on forever.
There were times when Melbourne were ready to admit defeat, which would have handed Munster to the Dolphins or Wests Tigers on a silver platter.
Tripp refused to give up but it was Craig Bellamy’s reassurance that he would continue coaching and Penrith’s grand final win that convinced Munster to stay.
Munster is always one of the most jovial figures in Kangaroos camp but his happy-go-lucky nature was pushed to its limits as talks with the Storm painstakingly went on for months.
Munster had no desire to walk out on the club but the interest from elsewhere suggested he would be leaving millions on the table by staying.
He was stressing out as he contemplated a change of clubs.
“It has obviously been a stressful time – I am not going to lie,” Munster said.
“I was jumping back and forth with decisions about what was best for me. I am not a guy who stresses out at all but I reckon this is the most stressful time I have had.
“I never wanted to leave and there was a stage there where I was going to do it. I had the idea that I was leaving.
“I had come to terms with it. I was like I am over the negotiations.”
Munster eventually made the decision to stay in Melbourne and agreed to a four-year extension – he has one year left on his current deal meaning he will stay with the Storm until the end of 2027 – worth more than $4 million on the day the Kangaroos departed for England.
The news leaked as he was making his way through customs, angering Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett but easing Munster’s mind as he prepared to play a key role in Australia’s World Cup defence.
“It is something I am happy with and I won’t regret the decision,” he said.
“I am excited for the next five years. I am very lucky that it is done and dusted now and I can play some good footy for Australia.
“Obviously we both had sudden changes of heart and tried to make it work. Ask anyone I was playing with and close to me and they thought I was a done deal and gone.
“I thought I was as well. I was not staying there, I came to terms with that. I was legit waiting until November to have a look at my options and see what options I had. There was lots of speculation about Redcliffe but I didn’t have any formal offers.” Craig Bellamy is the only coach Munster has known in the NRL. The multiple premiership winner has a rolling contract that deems he must inform the Storm in March next year whether he plans to continue coaching in 2024. Bellamy has given every indication next season will be his last as a head coach, although he has done so before. Munster hopes he continues but he also realises that at some point, Bellamy will no longer be the man in charge at the Storm.
“I kind of told Craig that if he wasn’t staying on, I was going,” Munster said.
