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Saturday mornings are when Melbourne Storm star Cameron Munster often thinks about his late father, Steve.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when the races are on, and dad would always call through with his tips,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were normally s— tips.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he did give me a tip that paid more than $10, he\u2019d ask if I got on, but I\u2019d tell him I was broke from the 50 previous tips he gave me that never won.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe once tipped me a horse that paid $51 at Doomben. It was before COVID. He loved Flemington. I took him to the Melbourne Cup for the first time last year, and he loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
You can only imagine the tears Munster will shed if he can win Sunday\u2019s NRL grand final against Brisbane, only to look into the Accor Stadium stands knowing his father will not be there.<\/p>\n
Steve Munster died of a heart attack in July, days before his son was due to captain Queensland in the Origin decider in Sydney.<\/p>\n
The five-eighth was shattered when he received the news from his sister while in Maroons camp. Coach Billy Slater told Munster to forget about footy for a few days to be with his loved ones in Rockhampton.<\/p>\n
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Billy Slater and Cameron Munster share a moment after winning the Origin series.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Nobody in Queensland was going to hold it against him if he was in no mood to play the final Origin.<\/p>\n
But Munster did, the Maroons won, and he was surrounded by cameras at full-time as he was consoled by Slater, a fellow Melbourne and Queensland legend who lost his dad at the start of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly Cam would be able to answer how he\u2019s been able to cope,\u201d Slater said this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes when you have these great personalities, and infectious people everyone wants to be around, they can hide things well \u2013 they can be good at hiding things.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere would be times Cam is sitting around at home, more than likely on a Saturday morning when he usually spoke to his old man about the races, when it sinks in [that he is gone].<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a pretty taxing year for him. But I don\u2019t know. He\u2019s put together a little bit differently, Cam. He\u2019s a tough human.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s handled some big things this year, and there\u2019s another big one in front of him on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure his old man will come to the front of his mind this week, and he\u2019ll be thinking how every other grand final he\u2019s played in, his dad was in the stands.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve loved life, loved sports, loved his footy, and loved his family. He\u2019d be pretty chuffed at what his boy is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he sat on a bench in the middle of AAMI Park on a sunny Monday, Munster smiled when asked which player Steve loved the most.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who smashed me,\u201d said Munster, smiling at that very moment like he could still hear Steve\u2019s words ringing in his ears.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever I played Manly, he\u2019d always send me photos of [hard-hitting centre] Steve Matai. He used to call Kenny Bromwich \u2018Kevin Costner\u2019 because he was my \u2018Bodyguard\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if I played well, I\u2019d come off and dad would say, \u2018you tackled OK, but geez you can be a speed hump\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018yeah Dad, I appreciate it\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a great sense of humour. He never took anything too seriously, and loved a joke. That\u2019s what I loved about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes said one of his last memories of Steve was when he came down for the club\u2019s \u2018parents\u2019 day\u2019 this year. The Storm put on special match day weekends for families so they can get to know each other, especially given the bulk of the squad are not from Victoria.<\/p>\n
Munster picked up the player of the match that weekend, and Hughes teased Steve about having to make a speech.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had about four beers in his hands, he was quadruple parked, and started to stress when I told him about saying something nice,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n
\u2018You never know how people will deal with grief. To his credit, he\u2019s done a great job.\u2019<\/p>\n
Jahrome Hughes on Cameron Munster<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve was a great man. He was a bloke\u2019s bloke who loved the punt, the beers and getting around the boys. He was always up for a chat with anyone in the squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been through something like that. I didn\u2019t know how Munster was feeling.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it was about letting him know myself and my wife were here for him if he ever needed anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know how people will deal with grief. To his credit, he\u2019s done a great job.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s been a big year for Storm star Cameron Munster.Credit: Steven Siewert<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if I could have done what he\u2019s been able to do, and the way he\u2019s handled himself after something like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such an inspiration for myself to see how he\u2019s handled himself this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Munster said the proper time to grieve would most likely arrive once all his footballing commitments were over, which for him will be after Australia\u2019s Ashes campaign in early November.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been on that rollercoaster, I\u2019ve been keeping busy, I have to be here or there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the season finishes and I don\u2019t have to do anything, and I\u2019ve got time to myself, that\u2019s probably when it might hit home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Right now, Munster, Hughes, coach Craig Bellamy and the team have a pretty important game to win against the Brisbane Broncos.<\/p>\n
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