Opinion
By any stretch of the NRL imagination it’s hard to say Cameron Munster or the Melbourne Storm have under-achieved this year.
This is, after all, a team running fourth heading into the final month of the regular season that has once again defied pre-season predictions of a drop-off after a decade-plus as premiership contenders.
But they’re missing something – the Big Three era is long gone and the aura that once followed the Storm has now disappeared.
Munster, in particular, is not sparking their attack with the same impact as recent years.
It’s not that Munster hasn’t been good, he’s been very good, as is usually the case, but the Storm need him to be elite.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
He seems to be taking on more of an organising role instead of being the game breaker.
Munster has only produced nine line break assists this season and made 10 himself – last season he created 15 gaps in the opposition defensive line and burst through himself 17 times.
After overcoming a few off-field demons and then putting to bed the speculation about his future at the end of last season by recommitting to the Storm long term, everything was in place for Munster to dominate.
Except the Storm pack doesn’t have the same oomph as it did when Jesse and Kenny Bromwich were making their mark in attack and defence with Felise Kaufusi bringing extra aggression and Brandon Smith giving the side another unpredictable element.
The departure of Smith to the Roosters and the other three to the Dolphins means Melbourne are no longer owning the middle of the field.
Maybe Munster should have joined Dolphins after all to get out of his comfort zone while also remaining in it by following the Bromwich boys and Kaufusi.
Ryan Papenhuyzen’s ongoing absence with his serious knee injury has also been a factor – in on the NRL’s great storylines for 2023, the injury-plagued fullback made a successful return after more than a year out last weekend in the Queensland Cup.
The Storm have pulled the right rein by not rushing him back into the NRL side even though they’ve got a crucial clash with Canberra at AAMI Park on Sunday which could very well decide which team snares fourth spot in the finals.
If he can get back into the top team in the next few weeks, whether as a starter or an attacking weapon off the bench, it would be enormous for the Storm’s chances of playoff success.
The Storm are not getting the ball downfield as far as previous years for the likes of Munster and halves partner Jahrome Hughes to weave their magic.
They averaged 1555.5 running metres per game last year but that has plummeted to 1409 this season. Three years ago when they won their last premiership it was over 1700m.
While their defensive prowess is still top notch, ranked fourth overall, their attack is nowhere near where it needs to be for them to be genuine title contenders.
They are eighth in points and tries scores, 10th in try assists, 11th in line breaks, 12th in tackle breaks and seventh in tackles in the opposition 20-metre zone at 28.8 per game, nearly 10 behind the Penrith benchmark.
They rank in the bottom four teams for engaging the defensive line – they’re tracking to be solid but not spectacular.
And it’s not like they’re flat-track bullies – Melbourne have done fairly well against the other teams currently in the top 10, winning six of 11, beating the Broncos, Warriors and Rabbitohs.
But it’s the two losses to the Panthers which have created the biggest cloud over their premiership prospects – a 34-16 rare thumping at home in Round 18 and last week’s 26-6 drubbing at Penrith.
The premiers had a combined 20 more sets than them over the course of those two games.
Penrith only shaded them marginally in terms of set distance in each match so the lopsided results can’t merely be blamed on dominance from the pack.
It was more the cumulative effect of the Panthers machine grinding Melbourne into submission, as they do with most teams who end up Panthers roadkill, rather than blowing opponents away in one particular area.
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
There has been plenty of talk about whether James Tedesco will retain his spot as Kangaroos fullback in light of the red-hot form of Reece Walsh, Dylan Edwards and Kalyn Ponga.
The same can be said of Munster’s place as Nathan Cleary’s halves partner after they led Australia to the World Cup last year with competition coming from his Queensland comrade.
Daly Cherry-Evans has been one of the form halves in the NRL and the Manly veteran could easily slot in at five-eighth for the Kangaroos alongside Cleary.
On current form, it’d be an each-way bet for coach Mal Meninga.
Munster is the kind of player who is destined to be remembered as a big-game player rather than a consistent club footy star, the kind that wins Dally Ms.
There are big games on the horizon for the Storm and they need him to lift no so much his output but his impact otherwise the club will have a slim chance at best of celebrating their 25th birthday with a title.
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