Cameron Munster watched Penrith celebrate their 2022 grand final win – complete with Pasifika lolly necklaces and ski goggles to shield their eyes from champagne spray – and decided.
After an entire year of indecision on the biggest decision of his career, Munster was going to leave as much as $1.5 million on the table from the Dolphins to re-sign with Melbourne, and ideally finish his career at the only club he’s ever known.
Munster will be Melbourne’s playmaking circuit breaker in Sunday’s grand final against the Panthers, and is building into ominous form with three tries, 13 tackle breaks and an average of 183 running metres in his last two outings.
Almost two years to the day, he was ready to join Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins after a year of negotiations that traversed a feud between the master coach and his agent Braith Anasta, and ended up with a four-year offer worth around $6 million on the table.
“He had one foot out the door,” Storm chairman Matt Tripp recalls, understanding the sheer weight of a seven-figure gulf to Melbourne’s own $4.5 million offer.
“The contract was well worth going away for,” Munster agrees.
Panthers Brian To’o and Stephen Crichton celebrate their 2022 grand final triumph.Credit: Getty Images
Until he sat back watching Penrith’s demolition of Parramatta in 2022, having finished with the earliest Mad Monday of his career, when Melbourne were knocked out in week one of the finals by Canberra.
Munster rang Anasta with, finally, a firm decision, while the Panthers partied through the wee hours into the next day. He famously did not call Bennett, and the Storm deal was finalised within a week.
“I saw how Penrith go about their business in making grand finals,” he says. “And is it their fourth grand final in a row [this year]? Their fifth? Jesus.
“Seeing them celebrate [in 2022] and enjoy those moments with each other. It just brought back memories from 2017 and 2020 and the way I felt in those games.
Money’s not everything: Storm star Cameron Munster.Credit: Getty Images
“It felt like it was my best chance to get back there. I feel like I made the right decision at the moment, but we will see what comes on Sunday.”
Munster turned 30 last month and has battled a groin complaint that threatened to end his season in mid-May. With another three years on contract and 211 appearances already for the Storm, he’ll push toward 300 games if his body can go the distance.
A series of frank conversations with Tripp and coach Craig Bellamy throughout 2022 gave both an insight to how Munster agonised over a decision that generated endless headlines and airtime.
The chance to return to his native Queensland, front a new club and play under Bennett held obvious appeal, up against Bellamy, his star-studded side and the club that had stood by him through a stint in rehab and off-field incidents.
“He had a great year but I could tell that the huge microscope on him did effect him,” Tripp says.
“He was really torn because it was a life-changing decision.
“He was ready and seriously considering [leaving]. He admits that, and we spent a lot of time together in that period. There were several heart-to-hearts.
“I know it sounds crazy, but Cam can be quite serious and well considered. He can be a deep thinker when he needs to think about the big things in his life, with family the priority and football second to that, I think he did weigh it up sensibly.
“Life’s a constant joke when you’re with him on the golf course or anywhere else, but he leant on the right people – his family, Craig and Frank [Ponissi] – when he had to make that decision.
“Keeping him in Storm colours for the rest of his career, there’s no one happier than me and I stand by the fact I think he made the right choice for himself and his family by staying in Melbourne.”
