{"id":400142,"date":"2026-04-27T16:23:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T16:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/400142\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T16:23:12","slug":"not-safe-why-cameron-munster-may-lose-his-queensland-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/400142\/","title":{"rendered":"Not safe: Why Cameron Munster may lose his Queensland jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queensland Maroons<\/a> captain Cameron Munster<\/a> is far from a guarantee to play all three games of this year’s State of Origin<\/a> series unless he clicks into gear in a hurry.<\/p>\n

Set to the backdrop of the Melbourne Storm’s worst-ever form slump, one of the key indicators has been, maybe surprisingly, Cameron Munster’s form.<\/p>\n

There is no denying what the star has done over the journey of his career at all three levels of the game.<\/p>\n

He has been the key man for Melbourne’s long run of success during his career, has played more good games for Queensland than you could count on two hands, and has been a walk-up selection for Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So highly valued is Munster to the Queensland camp that when his coach Billy Slater<\/a> elected to drop Daly Cherry-Evans<\/a> after a single game of last year’s series, the Storm star was installed as the new captain of his state.<\/p>\n

That despite injury troubles plaguing him throughout the course of the year.<\/p>\n

But 2026 hasn’t been kind to Munster and the Storm, who seem to have been left in the dust by the ever-increasing pace of rugby league.<\/p>\n

After thumping the Parramatta Eels<\/a> in the season-opener, the Storm looked to be business as usual as they found a way to get it done against the Dragons, and then led 14-0 at halftime in their third clash against the Brisbane Broncos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To have two wins, no matter the quality of opposition, and a lead to nil against the defending premiers, across your first 200 minutes of footy for the season is a pretty fair effort.<\/p>\n

And Munster was playing the part everyone expected to at both ends of the park. Making his tackles, setting up tries, running the ball beautifully and looking a serious menace to the opposition defensive line.<\/p>\n

But then, for whatever reason, it changed. And it changed fast.<\/p>\n

Melbourne, in the most un-Melbourne like way, coughed up their lead against the Broncos and have since gone on to record another five losses on the bounce – to the North Queensland Cowboys<\/a> where they also led, to the Penrith Panthers<\/a> where they let in 50, to the Warriors at home in a horror display, to the Canberra Raiders<\/a> on the road, and then, to cap it all off, to the South Sydney Rabbitohs<\/a> who won their first-ever game in Victoria by scoring 48 points.<\/p>\n

Melbourne only managed a late consolation try which ensured they wouldn’t be held scoreless in their own state for the first time in club history.<\/p>\n

That was, frankly, just about the only positive you could write about in a game where Craig Bellamy<\/a> looked equal parts frustrated and bewildered. He simply doesn’t have an answer right now.<\/p>\n

Embarrassed was the word used plenty by Bellamy and Storm players coming out of the Anzac Day loss, and rightly so.<\/p>\n

While Munster has seemingly been trying to overplay his hand in getting Melbourne out of the losing slump, that wasn’t the case on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The usually free-spirited, ball-running Munster made just 28 metres, didn’t go close to having a try involvement and missed five tackles.<\/p>\n

There were times he looked closer to a turnstile in defence than an elite rugby league player who has done it all.<\/p>\n

Class is permanent, and Munster could find a way out of his hole – so too could the Storm, but it’s clear they have been left in the dust by rugby league’s new rules, while the absensce of Eliesa Katoa<\/a> isn’t exactly helping them.<\/p>\n

But as it stands, Munster is on par (statistically at least), for his worst season ever. He is running a career equal low metres, tackling at an equal low tackle efficiency and has just four try assists in eight games while not yet crossing for one of his own.<\/p>\n

The last time Munster averaged half a try assist per game or less was in 2020, so it has been a long time since he has hit the skids this badly.<\/p>\n

Errors have also been a regular part of the game.<\/p>\n

The challenge is about to go up a gear as well – Jahrome Hughes<\/a> is going to miss at least the next match with the Dolphins<\/a> after suffering a concussion, and while a long-term lay-off with a wrist injury has likely been avoided, next weekend will pit two absolutely desperate teams against one another.<\/p>\n

While Melbourne being in 16th spot is the competition’s biggest lowlight after eight rounds, the Dolphins<\/a>, widely tipped to challenge for the top four, have won just two from seven.<\/p>\n

Munster likely holds the key to the game, and while his jersey for Origin 1 may not be in any danger, Billy Slater<\/a> has shown his cards before.<\/p>\n

He doesn’t care if you’re the captain or player 19. If you’re not in the form to wear the Queensland jersey, you won’t. Simple as that.<\/p>\n

Munster has about four weeks to find some form. Anything less than a cracking performance for Queensland could leave him in the crosshairs for Game 2.<\/p>\n

Tom Dearden<\/a> being able to play at either six or seven gives Queensland excellent versatility, and while Braydon Trindall’s form has fallen away, there could be the argument that he, the outrageously in-form Tanah Boyd<\/a>, or even game-controller Jamal Fogarty<\/a> are options if Slater elects to go in a different direction.<\/p>\n

That would be one of the toughest decisions of his career. There is no doubt about it.<\/p>\n

But right now, it would be hard to be surprised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queensland Maroons captain Cameron Munster is far from a guarantee to play all three games of this year’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-400142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}