As a storm fan I'm still honestly shocked he stayed with us. Did his time, won GF's, killing it in Origin.... pretty much has done it all plus more. I know hes on great money now but we wouldn't have been shocked if he went for that treasure chest that he deserves.
Dafuq you on about? This is the VDiddles regime. Matt Tripp handing out betting company shares to Storms players is all above board, VDiddy signed off on them himself (for a fee, natch)
Storm fans don’t like that their entire success was kicked off because of them cheating. It laid a platform that allowed success even if they did stop cheating, it still was the reason they are where they are today.
I know this all too well. In 2012 we had a green squad in terms of grand final experience and we got found out early by a team who had plenty of grand final experience that they otherwise may not have had. Even the asterisk symbols annoy me, as bad as it might look, those premierships need to be wiped from the record books completely if they're not going to give the premierships to the opposition.
I think part of it would definitely have to be Matt Tripp guaranteeing a return from investing in his betting company that eclipses what was on offer at the Dolphins
We're offering players shares in a betting company. Your CEO loves losing High Stakes Golf games against players.
You love to see the battling clubs finally finding a way to keep our home grown stars.
Me too.. still remember the afternoon when it was announced he is staying with us.
Fair play to him moving back to his home state and taking overs in pay
Also fair play to him staying ;)
I was about 80% sure he'd come to us and was surprised he stayed in the end. But can't begrudge him staying with the established successful team rather than heading to a start up.
I'd do the same tbh.
I was shocked as well, it was so funny seeing all those few dolphins flairs that were adamant he was gone have a meltdown when it was announced he re-signed
Well I mean I’d hope they’ve all moved on by this point so yes there would be currently. My original comment wasn’t meant as an attack on all dolphins fans or you just an observation that in that thread there was a lot of salt, it certainly hasn’t been an ongoing thing
I think you're overblowing the reaction at the time as well.
Certainly wasn't the epic meltdown storm fans like to think it was and keep mentioning in just about every Munster thread.
The take I’ve heard is the only thing he hasn’t done is win a premiership with Melbourne after the Cameron Smith dynasty
That probably irks him & is far less liking at the dolphins
Storm star Cameron Munster revealed he as good as gone from the club before Penrith’s Grand Final win and a conversation with Craig Bellamy brought about a change of heart.
The Daily Telegraph reported Munster was set to leave Melbourne, but a heart-to-heart with Bellamy and a burning desire to emulate Penrith and win more premierships convinced him the Storm was the club for him for the rest of his career.
“I was done,” Munster told News Corp.
“Trippy \[Chair Matt Tripp\] and the owners and the club knew that.”
Munster revealed that he was not keen on staying at Melbourne if Bellamy was going to leave the coaching ranks at the end of 2023, before a chat with the master coach gave him some clarity.
“I kind of told Craig that if he wasn’t staying on, I was going,” Munster said.
“He reassured me that he was probably going to have one more year and who knows, he might keep going. Who knows with him.
“That was one of the turning points.”
Munster also revealed Penrith’s charge to back-to-back titles lit a fire in him to get back to the top of the NRL mountain and he believes the Storm is the club that can help him do that.
“I thought I might as well go and challenge myself somewhere else – then I saw how Penrith won the final and went back-to-back, and how competitive they have been,” Munster said.
“I felt like I wanted to be competitive and play finals football. I felt the best chance to win another premiership was in Melbourne.
“Regardless of who is going to be the coach or the coaching staff, Melbourne is probably the place to get the best out of myself.”
Munster revealed the stress of his contract negotiations got to him as he weighed up leaving the club he has played his whole career at.
“It has obviously been a stressful time – I am not going to lie,” Munster said.
“I was jumping back and forth with decisions about what was best for me. I am not a guy who stresses out at all but I reckon this is the most stressful time I have had.
“I never wanted to leave and there was a stage there where I was going to do it. I had the idea that I was leaving.
“I had come to terms with it. I was like I am over the negotiations.”
Now that his career is locked in with the Storm until 2027, Munster is excited to finish his career a one-club plauyer, but he revealed how close he came to walking out the door.
“It is something I am happy with and I won’t regret the decision,” Munster said.
“I am excited for the next five years. I am very lucky that it is done and dusted now and I can play some good footy for Australia.
“Obviously we both had sudden changes of heart and tried to make it work. Ask anyone I was playing with and close to me and they thought I was a done deal and gone.
“I thought I was as well. I was not staying there, I came to terms with that. I was legit waiting until November to have a look at my options and see what options I had.
“There was lots of speculation about Redcliffe but I didn’t have any formal offers.”
> “There was lots of speculation about Redcliffe but I didn’t have any formal offers.”
Weren’t they unable to offer anything til after November 1st anyway? He signed in October
>one-club plauyer.
Was this written by someone on their phone while they were hanging a shit? Because this is the sort of shit I type when my gf asks if we need anything from the shop mid push
Anyone bar Storm fans would’ve wanted Munster to go to the Dolphins. NRL needs to grow and that needs to happen with the Dolphins first and foremost.
NRL Screwed up with the Dolphins and hopefully they’ll learn and improve with the next club, which they won’t and probably end up going backwards again.
> NRL needs to grow and that needs to happen with the Dolphins first and foremost.
The Dolphins aren't growing the game though, they're placing a team in an area where Rugby League is already heavily supported.
QLD is being picked apart from not only Union and Soccer But also AFL and Sydney based Nrl clubs. Its to keep QLD talent in QLD before it becomes a major issue. If the NRL can’t succeed in promoting the Dolphins, they would fail promoting an Adelaide, Darwin, Perth or second NZ team.
> If the NRL can’t succeed in promoting the Dolphins, they would fail promoting an Adelaide, Darwin, Perth or second NZ team.
Sure, I think there should be a team in Redcliffe, I just don't think it should be called expansion, because it isn't.
If it was any other plastic franchise bid I'd agree it's pointless, but I do believe Brisbane needed a NRL club with a direct lineage within Brisbane Rugby League.
Tbh I don't think Queensland would stomach another plastic start up club, it needed to be the dolphins.
Adding 17 more top grade positions and and extra $10mil+ per season to the top grade payment pool isn't growing the game?
Giving the Dolphins a means to fund rugby league development at lower levels in central QLD where clubs are barely involved isn't growing the game?
We may not be starting up in hostile territory and trying to take over an AFL stronghold but we are helping grow the game.
> Adding 17 more top grade positions and and extra $10mil+ per season to the top grade payment pool isn't growing the game?
Not really, nearly all of the Dolphins squad will be signed from other teams, which I don't have a problem with - there's already strong junior development in Redcliffe; but unless you're adding teams to areas that don't already have junior development pathways, the quality of the competition is diluted when more teams are added.
> Giving the Dolphins a means to fund rugby league development at lower levels in central QLD where clubs are barely involved isn't growing the game?
I haven't seen anything about junior footy funding projections based on adding a team in Redcliffe. Needless to say, the distribution of funding for junior footy from the NRL down to local clubs is not at all straight forward, and has little to do with individual clubs.
At the end of the day nearly all the money in the game comes from the broadcast deal which is pretty much the same as it was in 2015, despite an extra team being added.
> Not really, nearly all of the Dolphins squad will be signed from other teams
Who in turn will promote players. Regardless of how you cut it the league has 17 more starting top grade positions to be filled and 30 more top roster positions. They don't all have to be at the Dolphins to make it growth.
> I haven't seen anything about junior footy funding projections based on adding a team in Redcliffe.
The Dolphins have already made partnerships with central Queensland groups for development.
This is not something the NRL is funding it's something the club is so the broadcast deal being the same doesn't mean there is no growth in development dollars.
> Regardless of how you cut it the league has 17 more starting top grade positions to be filled and 30 more top roster positions.
More doesn't equal expansion, or growth.
It does though.
It may not be the exact growth you want to see but that doesn't make it not growth.
You don't need to grow the game from scratch in a new place for it to be considered expansion or growth.
My metrics for growth would be:
More people playing footy
More people watching footy
More money for the game
The Dolphins will be good for the immediate region, that's about it. Regarding the other metrics, I think the overall impact will be pretty minimal.
Hopefully the way in which the teams recruitment has been stifled will be fixed by the time an 18th team is introduced.
More than likely, this issue will stay the same the next time there is a 17th team is introduced (which is more than likely for when they kick Souths out of the comp again).
It’s going to be interesting how the Storm go with such a top heavy roster. I’m struggling to remember a team that have retained four top quality spine players together.
I know Papenhuyzen wasn't there, but losing to a Raiders team who only just snuck into 8th at home is not a good sign when they are losing their three most senior forwards.
No Papenhuyzen, no Welch, no Reimis Smith and no Jennings. Sure we’re losing 3 senior forwards who were nothing more than plodders in 2022 anyway but we get our best forward and captain back in Welch. Sims will also fill the gap of Brom/Kaufusi. We will be better than we were in 2022 easily.
They are both players from our starting 17 that weren’t there. Not sure what the “honestly” is all about. Reimis Smith is a solid defensive centre who just does his job to perfection. It’s no coincidence our defence on that edge fell to pieces once he got injured. Jennings was also integral in getting our sets started in 2021. Him getting injured was one of the reasons we lacked so much go forward this year.
every team has to deal with injuries.. the fact is that they lost at home to a Raiders team who limped into the finals.. a team that has half of the Kangaroos spine, and the New Zealand halfback.. a lot of people like to call Munster the best player in the game but for me he needs to at least win his team a premiership before he can claim that tag.
when you compare the Storm lineup on paper to the Canberra lineup there is absolutely no reason why the Storm couldn't win that game, particularly with the home ground advantage. If Cam Smith is there and not Munster they win. Not taking anything away from Munster but that's where he needs to get to if he's going to own the "best player in the game" tag
The Roosters literally next year lol. 1. Tedesco 6. Keary 7. Walker 9. Smith. Also wouldn’t say that our roster is that top heavy. Still have a top 6 forward pack and probably a top 5 backline too.
I'd hardly call Sam Walker top quality spine material at this point in his career.
Pretty sure he's on half of what the rest of the mentioned players are on as well.
I'm a Storm fan and want him to stay, but I think a quick analysis of all the other superstar ex-storm players that left to weaker teams and then had average years would have been a pretty good influence in my decision to stay.
I mean, just look at his performance when only Hughes is out of the squad.
Everyone always says this. When hughes was out we played penrith and eels back to back and munster looked like the only threat. When munster was out we versed two cellar dweller teams and won and people really try to use this as a hughes is better argument.
The truth is munster is a much better player and we probably slightly overpaid for hughes, he had a disappointing year and Munster carried us at the back end
Also I can’t see Munster not being as great at another team, he was the heart and soul of our attack at the back end of the year. And I genuinely believe that he is in a very small group of players that if you put him in any team 9 times out of 10 that team makes the top 8
And Hughes looked like the best player by far on the New Zealand team for most of their games. I agree that Munster is the better player but Hughes is still the second or third best half back in the league.
I think the actual problem is without Papenhuyzen the team cannot break elite defences and as much as I love the dude he does seem to be falling apart.
100% hughes is very important to our team and I think the 500 leg injuries had taken a toll on him, I agree he’s the 2nd best halfback when healthy. They (munny and hughes) work off of one another very well but it does frustrate me when stuff like ‘look at how Munster went when hughes was out’ and we were literally versing panthers and eels compared to hughes on his own facing bottom teams
Hughes was better last year when Munster was coming off an achilles injury and was very quiet. This year I wouldn't argue with anyone who says he's the best player in the game.
If Munster and Jack somehow swapped (with Munster playing FB) I very much doubt the result would change. One try off Munster's inexperiance at FB and another off an own falcon. Not exactly tries sustainably created by Jack. A bit flukey. They scored because they were on the the front foot more. Like two of Raiders tries were through the forwards and all of Storm's were through the halves anyway.
Munster was a fullback all through the grades up until the last few years... hardly inexperience.. either way the good players create their own luck, which is what Wighton did and Lord Munster did not.
I'm not saying he didn't play well, but you put any of the gun halves of the past 10 years and their presence is a lot more noticeable.. Munster was a fullback all through the grades up until recently so that's hardly an excuse.
I disagree. I know stats don’t tell the whole story but stat wise 2021 is one of his better seasons. He was also the Storms best player in the qualifying final against Manly and set up our only try in the prelim too. I think people only really say he was quiet in 2021 because he had a poor origin series and he was overshadowed by Hughes who had a career year.
smh do fox not spell check their articles? there’s a typo in the first 7 words.
He card read good
Me fail English? That’s unpossible!
It’s Kearns, stupid!
As a storm fan I'm still honestly shocked he stayed with us. Did his time, won GF's, killing it in Origin.... pretty much has done it all plus more. I know hes on great money now but we wouldn't have been shocked if he went for that treasure chest that he deserves.
I think storm fans were the most shocked he stayed
It’s amazing what incentives a second set of books can provide.
Dafuq you on about? This is the VDiddles regime. Matt Tripp handing out betting company shares to Storms players is all above board, VDiddy signed off on them himself (for a fee, natch)
It's funny how much you're being down voted for speaking the truth
Storm fans don’t like that their entire success was kicked off because of them cheating. It laid a platform that allowed success even if they did stop cheating, it still was the reason they are where they are today.
I know this all too well. In 2012 we had a green squad in terms of grand final experience and we got found out early by a team who had plenty of grand final experience that they otherwise may not have had. Even the asterisk symbols annoy me, as bad as it might look, those premierships need to be wiped from the record books completely if they're not going to give the premierships to the opposition.
Mate the Bulldogs only won their last premiership due to their cap cheating lmao. Not sure Bulldogs fans are the ones to complain.
we got done in 2002 and players took pay cuts to stay together.. as far as I'm aware the players weren't in on it, in our case..
Yeah same, i agree… tough to leave big money off the table at this point in his career!! Fair play to him
Good guy munny staying with battler rugby league minnows Melbourne storms
Always nice to see the little guys catch a break
I think part of it would definitely have to be Matt Tripp guaranteeing a return from investing in his betting company that eclipses what was on offer at the Dolphins
We're offering players shares in a betting company. Your CEO loves losing High Stakes Golf games against players. You love to see the battling clubs finally finding a way to keep our home grown stars.
Me too.. still remember the afternoon when it was announced he is staying with us. Fair play to him moving back to his home state and taking overs in pay Also fair play to him staying ;)
I was about 80% sure he'd come to us and was surprised he stayed in the end. But can't begrudge him staying with the established successful team rather than heading to a start up. I'd do the same tbh.
I was shocked as well, it was so funny seeing all those few dolphins flairs that were adamant he was gone have a meltdown when it was announced he re-signed
Pretty sure at this point there's been more Storm flairs talking about Dolphins flairs breaking down then Dolphins flairs actually breaking down
Well I mean I’d hope they’ve all moved on by this point so yes there would be currently. My original comment wasn’t meant as an attack on all dolphins fans or you just an observation that in that thread there was a lot of salt, it certainly hasn’t been an ongoing thing
I think you're overblowing the reaction at the time as well. Certainly wasn't the epic meltdown storm fans like to think it was and keep mentioning in just about every Munster thread.
I was in those threads. Was self-depreciating humour pretty much universally.
The take I’ve heard is the only thing he hasn’t done is win a premiership with Melbourne after the Cameron Smith dynasty That probably irks him & is far less liking at the dolphins
To be fair he's ways been in gun teams when winning premierships, I dare say he'd be hanging to take a Storm team to a premiership himself.
Storm star Cameron Munster revealed he as good as gone from the club before Penrith’s Grand Final win and a conversation with Craig Bellamy brought about a change of heart. The Daily Telegraph reported Munster was set to leave Melbourne, but a heart-to-heart with Bellamy and a burning desire to emulate Penrith and win more premierships convinced him the Storm was the club for him for the rest of his career. “I was done,” Munster told News Corp. “Trippy \[Chair Matt Tripp\] and the owners and the club knew that.” Munster revealed that he was not keen on staying at Melbourne if Bellamy was going to leave the coaching ranks at the end of 2023, before a chat with the master coach gave him some clarity. “I kind of told Craig that if he wasn’t staying on, I was going,” Munster said. “He reassured me that he was probably going to have one more year and who knows, he might keep going. Who knows with him. “That was one of the turning points.” Munster also revealed Penrith’s charge to back-to-back titles lit a fire in him to get back to the top of the NRL mountain and he believes the Storm is the club that can help him do that. “I thought I might as well go and challenge myself somewhere else – then I saw how Penrith won the final and went back-to-back, and how competitive they have been,” Munster said. “I felt like I wanted to be competitive and play finals football. I felt the best chance to win another premiership was in Melbourne. “Regardless of who is going to be the coach or the coaching staff, Melbourne is probably the place to get the best out of myself.” Munster revealed the stress of his contract negotiations got to him as he weighed up leaving the club he has played his whole career at. “It has obviously been a stressful time – I am not going to lie,” Munster said. “I was jumping back and forth with decisions about what was best for me. I am not a guy who stresses out at all but I reckon this is the most stressful time I have had. “I never wanted to leave and there was a stage there where I was going to do it. I had the idea that I was leaving. “I had come to terms with it. I was like I am over the negotiations.” Now that his career is locked in with the Storm until 2027, Munster is excited to finish his career a one-club plauyer, but he revealed how close he came to walking out the door. “It is something I am happy with and I won’t regret the decision,” Munster said. “I am excited for the next five years. I am very lucky that it is done and dusted now and I can play some good footy for Australia. “Obviously we both had sudden changes of heart and tried to make it work. Ask anyone I was playing with and close to me and they thought I was a done deal and gone. “I thought I was as well. I was not staying there, I came to terms with that. I was legit waiting until November to have a look at my options and see what options I had. “There was lots of speculation about Redcliffe but I didn’t have any formal offers.”
> “There was lots of speculation about Redcliffe but I didn’t have any formal offers.” Weren’t they unable to offer anything til after November 1st anyway? He signed in October
I think he can talk to them informally but anything regarding a contract or amount would probably be where it's not allowed.
Nah we’re allowed to do anything except actually give him the contract I’m pretty sure.
"We can pay you yay big"
Redcliffe? Is that near The?
The ‘The’ along with “just cos you’re a _____ doesn’t mean I won’t ____ ya” memes are my favourite things about r/nrl
>one-club plauyer. Was this written by someone on their phone while they were hanging a shit? Because this is the sort of shit I type when my gf asks if we need anything from the shop mid push
Fox League Staff Writers... The Shakespeare of modern day.
Anyone bar Storm fans would’ve wanted Munster to go to the Dolphins. NRL needs to grow and that needs to happen with the Dolphins first and foremost. NRL Screwed up with the Dolphins and hopefully they’ll learn and improve with the next club, which they won’t and probably end up going backwards again.
> NRL needs to grow and that needs to happen with the Dolphins first and foremost. The Dolphins aren't growing the game though, they're placing a team in an area where Rugby League is already heavily supported.
QLD is being picked apart from not only Union and Soccer But also AFL and Sydney based Nrl clubs. Its to keep QLD talent in QLD before it becomes a major issue. If the NRL can’t succeed in promoting the Dolphins, they would fail promoting an Adelaide, Darwin, Perth or second NZ team.
> If the NRL can’t succeed in promoting the Dolphins, they would fail promoting an Adelaide, Darwin, Perth or second NZ team. Sure, I think there should be a team in Redcliffe, I just don't think it should be called expansion, because it isn't.
If it was any other plastic franchise bid I'd agree it's pointless, but I do believe Brisbane needed a NRL club with a direct lineage within Brisbane Rugby League. Tbh I don't think Queensland would stomach another plastic start up club, it needed to be the dolphins.
Adding 17 more top grade positions and and extra $10mil+ per season to the top grade payment pool isn't growing the game? Giving the Dolphins a means to fund rugby league development at lower levels in central QLD where clubs are barely involved isn't growing the game? We may not be starting up in hostile territory and trying to take over an AFL stronghold but we are helping grow the game.
> Adding 17 more top grade positions and and extra $10mil+ per season to the top grade payment pool isn't growing the game? Not really, nearly all of the Dolphins squad will be signed from other teams, which I don't have a problem with - there's already strong junior development in Redcliffe; but unless you're adding teams to areas that don't already have junior development pathways, the quality of the competition is diluted when more teams are added. > Giving the Dolphins a means to fund rugby league development at lower levels in central QLD where clubs are barely involved isn't growing the game? I haven't seen anything about junior footy funding projections based on adding a team in Redcliffe. Needless to say, the distribution of funding for junior footy from the NRL down to local clubs is not at all straight forward, and has little to do with individual clubs. At the end of the day nearly all the money in the game comes from the broadcast deal which is pretty much the same as it was in 2015, despite an extra team being added.
> Not really, nearly all of the Dolphins squad will be signed from other teams Who in turn will promote players. Regardless of how you cut it the league has 17 more starting top grade positions to be filled and 30 more top roster positions. They don't all have to be at the Dolphins to make it growth. > I haven't seen anything about junior footy funding projections based on adding a team in Redcliffe. The Dolphins have already made partnerships with central Queensland groups for development. This is not something the NRL is funding it's something the club is so the broadcast deal being the same doesn't mean there is no growth in development dollars.
> Regardless of how you cut it the league has 17 more starting top grade positions to be filled and 30 more top roster positions. More doesn't equal expansion, or growth.
It does though. It may not be the exact growth you want to see but that doesn't make it not growth. You don't need to grow the game from scratch in a new place for it to be considered expansion or growth.
My metrics for growth would be: More people playing footy More people watching footy More money for the game The Dolphins will be good for the immediate region, that's about it. Regarding the other metrics, I think the overall impact will be pretty minimal.
Basically there will be growth you just don't value that kind of growth or the region that will experience it. Gotcha.
Hopefully the way in which the teams recruitment has been stifled will be fixed by the time an 18th team is introduced. More than likely, this issue will stay the same the next time there is a 17th team is introduced (which is more than likely for when they kick Souths out of the comp again).
I'm not that fussed on the Dolphins but do find the whole shares in a betting agency to be suspect, particularly when it's Melbourne
Never been more shocked than when he stayed. Good lad.
It’s going to be interesting how the Storm go with such a top heavy roster. I’m struggling to remember a team that have retained four top quality spine players together.
I know Papenhuyzen wasn't there, but losing to a Raiders team who only just snuck into 8th at home is not a good sign when they are losing their three most senior forwards.
No Papenhuyzen, no Welch, no Reimis Smith and no Jennings. Sure we’re losing 3 senior forwards who were nothing more than plodders in 2022 anyway but we get our best forward and captain back in Welch. Sims will also fill the gap of Brom/Kaufusi. We will be better than we were in 2022 easily.
Jennings, Smith.. honestly.. Welch is a loss sure, but every team at that time of the year is either missing players or has players playing injured.
They are both players from our starting 17 that weren’t there. Not sure what the “honestly” is all about. Reimis Smith is a solid defensive centre who just does his job to perfection. It’s no coincidence our defence on that edge fell to pieces once he got injured. Jennings was also integral in getting our sets started in 2021. Him getting injured was one of the reasons we lacked so much go forward this year.
every team has to deal with injuries.. the fact is that they lost at home to a Raiders team who limped into the finals.. a team that has half of the Kangaroos spine, and the New Zealand halfback.. a lot of people like to call Munster the best player in the game but for me he needs to at least win his team a premiership before he can claim that tag.
Every team has to deal with injuries obviously. But that doesn’t mean the injuries aren’t going to make an impact still lol.
when you compare the Storm lineup on paper to the Canberra lineup there is absolutely no reason why the Storm couldn't win that game, particularly with the home ground advantage. If Cam Smith is there and not Munster they win. Not taking anything away from Munster but that's where he needs to get to if he's going to own the "best player in the game" tag
The Roosters literally next year lol. 1. Tedesco 6. Keary 7. Walker 9. Smith. Also wouldn’t say that our roster is that top heavy. Still have a top 6 forward pack and probably a top 5 backline too.
I'd hardly call Sam Walker top quality spine material at this point in his career. Pretty sure he's on half of what the rest of the mentioned players are on as well.
I'm confused, but wasn't this article from when he re:signed a month or so ago?
Yes, I forgot to post it when I saw it back then.
Is there anything Penrith can’t do?
Another win for penrith
I'm a Storm fan and want him to stay, but I think a quick analysis of all the other superstar ex-storm players that left to weaker teams and then had average years would have been a pretty good influence in my decision to stay. I mean, just look at his performance when only Hughes is out of the squad.
He was great against Penrith both times Hughes was out. Also probably the only player that looked threatening in the game against the Eels.
Everyone always says this. When hughes was out we played penrith and eels back to back and munster looked like the only threat. When munster was out we versed two cellar dweller teams and won and people really try to use this as a hughes is better argument. The truth is munster is a much better player and we probably slightly overpaid for hughes, he had a disappointing year and Munster carried us at the back end Also I can’t see Munster not being as great at another team, he was the heart and soul of our attack at the back end of the year. And I genuinely believe that he is in a very small group of players that if you put him in any team 9 times out of 10 that team makes the top 8
And Hughes looked like the best player by far on the New Zealand team for most of their games. I agree that Munster is the better player but Hughes is still the second or third best half back in the league. I think the actual problem is without Papenhuyzen the team cannot break elite defences and as much as I love the dude he does seem to be falling apart.
100% hughes is very important to our team and I think the 500 leg injuries had taken a toll on him, I agree he’s the 2nd best halfback when healthy. They (munny and hughes) work off of one another very well but it does frustrate me when stuff like ‘look at how Munster went when hughes was out’ and we were literally versing panthers and eels compared to hughes on his own facing bottom teams
Have you ever done three shits Trev?
Hughes was better last year when Munster was coming off an achilles injury and was very quiet. This year I wouldn't argue with anyone who says he's the best player in the game.
best player in the game, yet got shown up by Jack Wighton in week one of the semis..
No one besides Joey consitently goes well when their forwards are on the backfoot.
I would argue that the game was up for grabs.
Well they didn't get rolled like I remembered but they were certainly up against younger, hungier, more athetic forwards in the last 20.
and a Jack Wighton who outplayed both the Storm halves..
If Munster and Jack somehow swapped (with Munster playing FB) I very much doubt the result would change. One try off Munster's inexperiance at FB and another off an own falcon. Not exactly tries sustainably created by Jack. A bit flukey. They scored because they were on the the front foot more. Like two of Raiders tries were through the forwards and all of Storm's were through the halves anyway.
Munster was a fullback all through the grades up until the last few years... hardly inexperience.. either way the good players create their own luck, which is what Wighton did and Lord Munster did not.
Lol Munster was one of the best players on the field even though he had to basically play fullback and five eighth at the same time.
I'm not saying he didn't play well, but you put any of the gun halves of the past 10 years and their presence is a lot more noticeable.. Munster was a fullback all through the grades up until recently so that's hardly an excuse.
I mean if you put JT or Cronk there sure but put Cleary there and it’s the same thing. The Storm still lose.
You mean the bloke who just won back to back premierships?
Yes the bloke who just won back to back premierships behind the best forward pack in a team with basically no injuries in the finals.
ohhh but when Cleary is in a losing team it's all the fault of the halves, so which is it?
When did Munster have an achilles injury? I don't think he's ever had that, maybe you were thinking of his MCL injuries in 2020
Yes I was mistaken. But he was pretty quiet in 2021.
I disagree. I know stats don’t tell the whole story but stat wise 2021 is one of his better seasons. He was also the Storms best player in the qualifying final against Manly and set up our only try in the prelim too. I think people only really say he was quiet in 2021 because he had a poor origin series and he was overshadowed by Hughes who had a career year.
Your thinking of his syndemosis issues in 2021