“I’ve seen a dramatic change in him when I think back to the issues that he had around him when they were up in Queensland for COVID,” Tripp said. “I was put under a lot of pressure to make some drastic changes at the club. There were a lot of people that were baying for blood.
“I always had a soft spot for him, and I always saw the good in him. Admittedly, the whole club took a risk because we all got on board and said we can see that this guy can turn his life around and become a really great Melbourne Storm person.
Cameron Munster has had another stellar season with the Storm. But it could have been all over in 2021.Credit: Getty Images
“I couldn’t be more proud of him, and the way he’s handled himself between that period and now. He’s now a brilliant dad, he is a great husband, he loves his wife, and she adores him; Bianca has been his best support.
“I’m proud of him … I mean I just look at the year that he’s had … not just adversity, but the way he bounced back in Origin [after Queensland trailed 1-0 in the series and then won].
“This would just be a fitting way to end a pretty wild 12 months for him, and there’ll be no one happier than me if he can get the win for the club.”
Tripp explained why he backed Munster after the 2021 scandal.
Cameron Munster was filmed with Storm teammates Brandon Smith and Chris Lewis in a Queensland hotel room with white powder on the table.
“He had a bit of a ratbag in him, but you need that in a club’s make-up,” Tripp said. “It’s good for the fabric. You need a few scallywags and a bit of humour, and a bit of an irreverence, and a bit of slapstick … he’s all of those things, but he’s just matured.
“And you scratch the surface … there was always a good-hearted young man there that wanted to be a better person, wanted to be a better footballer, but now and again these young guys just slip off the rails.”
There has been plenty of talk that Munster will become the new Perth Bears marquee signing. Tripp has said all along he wants him to finish his career at Melbourne. But the door may be open.
“We all agreed that we should park any of those conversations until the end of the year, but of course, I don’t want him to leave,” Tripp said.
“The priority for me for him is to be happy, and I hope that’s being happy at Melbourne. We will work all that out over the next few weeks, but at this stage I want him finishing with us.”
Gus returns to work. He never stopped really
The fact that Phil Gould took an iPad to hospital with him and kept working while he was waiting to have an investigative operation on his heart says it all about the man.
“I’m OK,” he said on Saturday. “I’ll be at work at the grand final, and I’ll be at Bulldogs on Tuesday. I haven’t stopped working and maybe some of the people at the Bulldogs wished I had.”
Gould will be there with a device in his chest that monitors his heart. It is linked to his phone and his doctor’s phone. Any irregularities and they can act immediately.
Phil Gould says he will work for Channel Nine on Sunday and be back at the Bulldogs on Tuesday.Credit: Nick Moir
“I never had a heart scare or anything like that,” Gould said.
“There were some things in my recent blood tests that required further investigation. The doctors were just being thorough.
“Look, I’m very lucky that I was cleared of any of the really bad stuff. I was lucky I went to the hospital because I was able to get a range of testing done that could have taken weeks. The doctors and the staff at the hospital were incredible.”
Gould had been telling friends he had been feeling unwell for weeks. At the funeral of his dear mate Wayne Beavis a few days before his hospital admission he appeared to lose consciousness and there were concerns for him.
“That was nothing,” Gould said. “I hadn’t eaten or slept and I was dehydrated.”
And he says he doesn’t need to change his lifestyle, which is heavy on work and light on rest.
“My lifestyle is pretty sedate these days,” he said. “I rarely drink alcohol and I don’t smoke and, yeah, I don’t sleep, but I haven’t slept for 67 years and I’ve got this far, so I’m just going to keep going.”
Slingsby and Madge have last laugh
Olympic gold medallist Tom Slingsby has been Michael Maguire’s secret weapon on the Broncos’ charge to Sunday’s grand final against the Storm.
Slingsby, who won Olympic gold in London in 2012, is a Broncos tragic and was brought in by Brisbane coach Maguire to address the team on a boat cruise on Sydney Harbour in May. The champion sailor is well aware of the attacks on him and Maguire that followed, and has launched a strong defence after critics lined up to put the boot into the Broncos.
Deine Mariner and the Broncos celebrate the winger’s late try on Sunday that sent them to the grand final.Credit: Getty Images
Maguire enlisted Slingsby to talk to his team about resilience and how to respond when the odds are stacked against them, and that has been what they have done incredibly well in the finals, beating the Raiders after being down by 16 points, and the Panthers in last Sunday’s epic preliminary final after being down 14-0 at half-time.
Slingsby spoke to this column as he prepared for a race in Europe and was more than happy to explain how his relationship with the Broncos came about.
“A good friend of mine is Anthony Bell,” he said. “Anthony’s joined the advisory group to the Broncos, and so Belly said that they’re in Sydney before the game and they want to do something nice.
“I was asked to come have a chat to the guys about the mental pressures of sport. If I’m honest, it is not something I do very often any more. I addressed a few things in my career … mainly the hardships – whether it was being the favourite for the Olympics in 2008 [when he finished 22nd], and then having to sort of come back and being able to win in 2012 – the mental hurdles you have to face when something like that happens.
Michael Maguire has been under plenty of pressure in 2025.Credit: Zak Simmonds
“I talked about the questions for yourself in difficult times, and what you do to get things back on track. I met the team that one night, and I’ve been chatting to Madge pretty much after every game.
“It’s very cool to see how they’re bouncing back. When I spoke to them, they had all the pressure on them. You could see they were really struggling. I saw them at their lowest point.
“I haven’t been there for this rise, but I’ve been staying close to it, watching every game from Europe and chatting to Madge.”
What really annoyed Slingsby was the mocking of him in the media for being a sailor and the criticism of Maguire for bringing him in.
Olympic gold medallist Tom Slingsby.
“It was really unfair on Madge,” Slingsby said. “I mean he’s a new coach there and he’s trying to rally the team that is struggling, and he thought it was mainly mental not physical. The key conversation was he said that these guys are the fittest guys … I’ve seen them in the off-season, they’ve got all the physical abilities … He said, ‘I think it’s more mental’.
“So he’s trying to sort of find something to spark them into gear, something that resonates with them and clicks with them, and I just thought that was completely unfair that sort of bashing that they copped.
“It’s easy to have a go at someone, but not as easy to try and help someone, even if you are another sport. What is wrong with going out on the harbour and having a talk with another sportsman from another sport about the mental game of sport? So I thought it was really unfair and rude to Madge.”
Concussion nothing to celebrate
There was so much to love about the Broncos’ incredible preliminary final win over the Panthers, including the atmosphere at Suncorp Stadium.
Scott Sorensen leaves the field in Brisbane.Credit: Getty Images
The constant presence of the ground announcer shouting for the Broncos is appreciated by some and accepted by others, but the NRL needs to intervene when it comes to celebrating the injuries of opposition players, as happened with Scott Sorensen’s concussion.
It was poor, and should be clamped down on.
A different league
The News Corp gossip columns can’t agree on the level of rugby league coverage that the Today show is giving its viewers.
In the Daily Telegraph, the view is that there is not enough, and that’s why the AFL rated so well this year. In The Australian’s media column, the view was the NRL was getting too much coverage.
The Telegraph tried to put the blame on club bosses, suggesting that several clubs had complained to the NRL about the various levels of coverage, which is an interesting take because you can’t imagine too many club chiefs sitting around on Saturday morning watching Weekend Today.
The clubs need to understand that the AFL grand final, whether they like it or not, is a significant event. And the Today show is a show that reflects important events.
The Brisbane Lions celebrate back-to-back AFL premierships.Credit: Getty Images
Yes, it was heavy on AFL content, but if there is one day of the year when that is understandable, it is on AFL grand final day.
Over at The Australian, they were quoting anonymous Today show staff, who were saying that there was too much NRL on the program in the lead-up to the AFL decider.
Perhaps the writers of the articles should have had a chat to get their stories straight?
There are clear agendas at play, and as important as breakfast television is, the Today show appears to be a strange program to be obsessing about.
Breakfast TV is not the same beast that it is in America. The bigger audience is for the nightly news, and Nine’s Sydney 6pm news provides more NRL coverage than any other broadcaster, and thanks to Peter Overton and James Bracey, it’s the most watched news, and quite often program, in Sydney.
Surely the AFL’s marquee day is worth covering?Credit: Eddie Jim
Today has more NRL coverage now than at any time in its history. Plus its sports host, Danika Mason, has a strong understanding of the NRL, given that she came up as a rugby league reporter and is a significant part of the Wide World Sports coverage of the NRL.
Peter V’landys’ passion for media coverage comes out of his desire to see rugby league dominate the AFL. It’s an obsession of his, and a healthy one for rugby league, however the Today show has its national audience to consider, and that is never an easy balance.
Pappy inspired by Slater … and Jeremy Clarkson
Ryan Papenhuyzen is in the news after he admitted he was interested in a move to breakaway rugby union competition R360. And I have been given an insight into what he may spend his money on if he does land a bumper contract in the rival code.
The former stick insect breeder has his sights set on a farm, and that has been partially inspired by his mentor, former Storm fullback Billy Slater.
Billy Slater and Ryan Papenhuyzen relax on Slater’s farm.Credit: Eddie Jim
But there is another influence.
“I’ve been watching Jeremy Clarkson’s show [Clarkson’s farm], and his farm has inspired me,” Papenhuyzen said. “I actually want to get a farm now. I know what Billy does on his … it’s unbelievable how many animals he’s got out there, and just looks like a great lifestyle.
“So no to stick insects, but who knows, maybe something else in the future.”
Papenhuyzen is a different character. He needs to take his mind off football.
“I guess you got to keep your mind occupied,” he said. “I have to. I think a lot … my mind wants to think about the game ahead, wants to think of different scenarios. But the nature of it is you got to turn up and face every situation that you’ve got on the Sunday, and everything you think of before might not even happen.
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“So you got to try to put yourself away from that and make sure you got things on off the field that you can concentrate on and take you away from the game. I’m really lucky that I’ve got a few things that I can focus on.”
Papenhuyzen will start his grand final preparation three and a half hours before kick-off. As well as stretching and visualisation, he will find a pool to prepare in.
“I’ve been fortunate that most places we stay in at away games have a pool … so on Sunday I’ll be in the Olympic pool just loosening up … doing a few leg raises and swims, that kind of thing. No laps or swimming caps, but it’s part of what I do.”
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