On Saturday when Storm embark on their 2022 Finals campaign and face the Raiders in a sudden-death final at AAMI Park, Cameron Munster will be taking some inspiration from a different source, his AFL team the Western Bulldogs.
Melbourne have endured both highs and lows during the 2022 season despite maintaining their place inside the top eight throughout and the Storm playmaker hinted at the possibility of channelling the 2016 Western Bulldogs side, who famously went on a run from outside the top four to claim AFL glory.
As several members of the Storm squad share friendships with the AFL outfit, Munster was asked if friend and Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli could provide any insight into what is required for a premiership tilt from outside the top four. The Queensland Origin star is confident in the weapons at Melbourne’s disposal.
Munster: 'Confident with the team we've got'
“Obviously I’m really close with Marcus, I think it hasn't been done since 2005 (in the NRL) with the (Wests) Tigers,"
“We're very confident with the team we got. I know we put ourselves in a sticky situation coming fifth and we had every opportunity last week to obviously beat Parra and they played really well,
“I think we’ve trained really well the last couple weeks and just haven't put it together on game day.”
As one of the competition’s most damaging playmakers, the five-eighth took responsibility for his own form as a factor for Storm needing improvement with the ball in hand.
“There’s been 50/50 performances from myself the last couple weeks,” Munster admitted,"
“Obviously last week I was good in patches and in glimpses, but there are a couple of areas for myself with short dropouts,
“But that's footy. I'll try it again this week and hopefully I can pull them off.”
