Both made their NRL debuts as teenagers and both are blessed with a unique instinct for the game, but one has 233 games his name, the other just 43.
One has tasted premiership glory twice and won Origin series and Test matches, the other is daring to dream of a title in just his second NRL season.
Welcome to the playmaking showdown between Cameron Munster and Lachlan Galvin – brash, brilliant, unpredictable, undeniably gifted.
One has done it all, the other wants it all… and has a pretty clear vision on how he can get there and who can show him the way.
Speaking to another fairly handy playmaker on Channel Nine after the Bulldogs’ 20-14 loss to the Storm three weeks ago, 19-year-old Galvin revealed his admiration and respect for Munster, who turns 31 on Saturday.
Cameron Munster on debut for the Storm as a 19-year-old in 2014.
“He was my idol growing up so it was pretty cool to come up against him,” Galvin told Panthers and Roosters legend Brad Fittler in a post-game interview.
“I have always tried to play like him and I was just telling him after the game that I’m a big fan and I’ll try and be like him one day.
“I could hear him during the game saying ‘get at Galvin’ when he was sending his forwards my way, that wasn’t nice, but that’s the job as a half to make those tackles so I’ll keep working hard.”
Asked this week about Galvin’s revelations, Munster admitted he wasn’t sure whether to feel flattered or flabbergasted given that the Bulldogs No.7 was eight years old when the Storm star debuted in 2014.
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From the field: Lachlan Galvin
“He said he was stoked to me and that he idolised me,” Munster said.
“I wasn’t sure how to take it – makes me feel old. I’m not old in terms of life but ‘footy old’ is pretty bad.
“He’s a talent and I was thinking do I take it as a compliment or does it mean I’m at the back end of my career.
I’m sure in years to come you’re going to hear Lachie’s name a lot in rep footy especially, along with a guy like Ethan Strange.
“Lachie has raw talent at such a young age and he has a long future ahead of him.”
If that future is to hold a premiership, Munster has no intention of allowing it to be in 2025, with the Storm chasing down a third crown in nine years and looking to avenge last year’s defeat to the Panthers in the big dance.
The quest for glory begins at home on Friday night and Munster knows the Storm need to lift big time after losses to the Roosters and Broncos.
“We played two teams that were playing for their season and they both played great footy against us,” Munster said.
“We knew nothing could change for us on the ladder [regardless of the results] so maybe a little but complacent but it’s really only two bad weeks, we’ve been pretty consistent this year.
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Lachlan Galvin Try
“A lot of people in the footy community will put a line through us because of the way we have played the last two weeks but it’s just an attitude adjustment for us – there’s nothing more motivating than knowing we are 80 minutes from a preliminary final.
“Rugby league is a simple game – it’s just a matter of wanting to run harder and tackle harder.
“We always sit there and dissect the game but the more you delve into things and overthink it the more times you are not going to play the footy you want to play.”
Off the cuff and on the edge. It’s a method that has served Cameron Munster well for the past 12 seasons and one Lachlan Galvin hopes will do the same for him for the next 12.