Cameron Munster only cracked 20 State of Origin games in Perth three weeks ago, but about a quarter of them have been in the “iconic” category.
Think his 2017 decider debut when he replaced Johnathan Thurston and the team didn’t miss a beat.
There was the 2020 miracle, the blond-haired 2022 stunner, and his man-of-the-match effort in his first outing as captain to level the series.
As potentially the best player on the park in every game, Munster always shoulders a heavy load, but nothing like he did in Queensland’s 24-12 victory in enemy territory.
When he led his state out for just the second time, he found a patch of the Stadium Australia turf to take a moment of solitude amongst all the chaos.
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Eyes cast skyward, it doesn’t take a psychic to know what he was thinking about.
Days after the death of his father, Steven, this footy larrikin who always seems to have 10 things running around his mind at once, found a way to refocus on the task at hand when the outside noise was at its loudest.
Munster said he was asking his dad for whatever energy he could impart.
He didn’t score a point or lay on the final pass for any of tries. He didn’t break the line and barely bent it back. Never did he slip a pass or make a tackler miss.
But, like so many captain’s knocks before it, the numbers in this game could not have mattered less.
It was littered with moments like storming over to Gehamat Shibasaki to hype the 26-year-old debutant after his composure and hands set up the opening try.
Cameron Munster got his team up and about in his inimitable way. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
Five minutes after half-time, with every Queenslander wary of another comeback by the Blues, Munster was the first man down the ground to hit and stick on NSW fullback Dylan Edwards. There’d be no repeat of Perth.
“Playing for Queensland means so much to him,” halves partner Tom Dearden told ABC Sport.
“He makes you proud to be a Queenslander. He means so much to Queensland and our group.”
Munster’s captain at Melbourne, Harry Grant, was similarly emotional about his great mate.
“So much love and appreciation to Cam for the way he showed up tonight to play and how he handled this,” Grant told ABC Sport.
“The only way we could repay him was through our actions to give him something to remember through this time.
“We played for him tonight.”
Coach Billy Slater played with Munster at club and state level. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
For a man whose NRL career has run the gamut from unbelievable acts at both ends of the spectrum, on and off the field, maybe it’s fitting that Munster turned the worst moment of his life to a famous victory.
He’s played better games and probably will in the future for state, club and country, but nothing will match what he did when he could have so easily taken time away.
Instead, after some coaxing from coach Billy Slater, he spent time with his family to sit with sadness and grief, then got back together with his teammates to get on with the job at hand while finding time to keep processing.
He found his moment before the game and after it too.
With cameras searching for him, he was lost in a crushing cuddle from 12 other maroon jerseys.
The team rallied around Munster. (Getty Images: Cameron Munster)
Every player on the field spent a little extra time embracing him, and the tears flowed when during a lengthy hug with Slater, who lost his father in January.
On the stage, he paused towards the end of his victorious captain’s speech to take a deep breath and gain his composure and speak directly to mum Debbie and wife Bianca.
“It’s been a tough time, but yeah, I guess at the end of the day, that’s life,” he said.
“I just want to appreciate everyone that’s been around me and make this week so special.”
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His voice cracked and wavered briefly — he’d be inhuman not to — but he promised to enjoy the celebrations.
“I love him and I’ll grieve and deal with what I have to deal with tomorrow,” he said.
“I want to soak it up tonight with my family with the team.”
That family and team got him through the past few days, dozens more will help get him through the next few years, and Munster said, despite all the pain, he will look back on this time and smile.
“I’ll be sitting there when I’m 80 years of age remembering 2025,” he said.
Another quiet moment for the kid from Rocky to remember his dad, his “big heart” and the pain that showed Munster how much love he has around him.
