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COVENTRY – Cameron Munster has washed his hands of the Kangaroos’ great halfback debate, declaring that he is happy to play with either Nathan Cleary or Daly Cherry-Evans, but that coach Mal Meninga would have to decide quickly so the spine can build combinations ahead of the knockout stages.
Pushed on who he would prefer, Munster laughed it off, telling media “When you start asking me for opinions, you know you’re going backwards!
“They’re both quality halves, DCE and Nath, so I’d hate to be a selector or Mal at the moment. A lot of the players are putting their hand up and playing some good footy.
“It’ll be interesting to see where Mal goes and whatever he decides I’ll jump on the back of and keep playing the consistent footy I have been.
“Mal is going to have to sit down with us as a spine and decide pretty quickly who he wants to go with. We have Italy next week but we’re looking further into the tournament we need to make sure we’ve got that spine cemented when we play the bigger games.
“They’re both professional players, they’ll understand which way Mal wants to go. There’ll be a little bit of disappointment in one of those guys heads for sure because everyone wants to play for Australia, especially in the World Cup. I’d be disappointed if I was one of those guys.”
Munster plays alongside Cherry-Evans at Origin level, but had never took to the field alongside Cleary prior to the Panthers halfback making his international debut in the 84-0 win over Scotland in Coventry.
Cleary managed 28 points – two off the record set by Andrew Johns for most points on debut – and clearly impressed his halves partner.
“I let him do his thing,” he said. “He’s done a lot at NRL and Origin level where he’s led the team around. I feel like I can do both, play with structure or play ad-lib off the back of it. I let him do his thing. He had 3 try assists and a try in the first 30 minutes so not a bad game.
“I was taking a backseat, watching him do things and thinking, jeez, I better do something! When you play for Australia, it’s the best of the best and sometimes you’re not going to have the impact you want because the players around you are playing such good footy.
“For me personally, the way Nath plays, he’s good with structure and organising. I thought if I let him do his thing, it would be a lot more comfortable coming into his game.
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
“If I took more of an ownership role I thought he’d be more hesitant, so I let him do what he does and inject myself when I need to. We gelled well tonight. Things went our way at times, but we were pretty willing in defence and obviously we have a lot of strike around the edges.”
If the pair are to gel on the field, they’ll get plenty of chance to prepare: the Kangaroos are taking a mini-break in Scotland and Munster will be sharing his space with Cleary for the trip.
“I’m trying to give him a bit of stick to warm him up a little bit,” joked Munster. “We’re actually rooming together in the next couple of days playing golf on a little trip, so I’ll get him out of his shell.
“He’s a very calm, collected kid and nothing gets under his skin but I’ll see what I can do!”