Cameron Munster's stunning start to the season has catapulted him into favouritism for the Dally M Medal but the Storm five-eighth said the only leaderboard he cared about was the competition ladder.
Munster picked up three Dally M votes against the Panthers on the weekend to join Robbie Farah at the top of the standings and is now the outright favourite for the Telstra Premiership's highest individual accolade.
But the 24-year-old has his feet firmly planted on the ground as he remains focused on playing his role for Melbourne's perennial finals tilt.
"It's a good accolade to have being at the top, but I would rather be at the top with the Storm and be worried about playing finals footy at the back end of the year," Munster said at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Wednesday.
"That’s my focus and that’s everyone’s focus at other NRL clubs. They want to play finals footy. That’s why we play the game. We don’t play the game for [individual] accolades.
"If they come, they come. It’s a big trophy to get the Dally M, but you’ve just got to worry about playing your own role for the team and those things come if you are playing some good footy.
"My focus is just playing well for this club."
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Munster has been in scintillating form this season, scoring a try and playing a part in another two as the Storm routed the Panthers 32-2 on Saturday night.
But it was perhaps the rare three one-on-one steals he produced in Bathurst that stole the headlines most as Munster made the most of the rule change that allows a strip to be made once the second tackler has fallen off.
Munster revealed he had performed the tactic successfully when playing in the Intrust Super Cup competition during the early stages of his career and only realised the opportunity to do so now after the rule was changed at the start of last season.
"It’s a real change in the game. It’s pretty exciting footy with the one-on-one steal now," he said.
"It will make people think a little bit more with the ball and it is a good concept for the game.
"I used to do it back in Queensland Cup when I was playing reserve grade, but I had gone away from the one on one steals as I know if it doesn’t come off, the ball could easily be down the other end of the field.
"It’s a little bit easier now with the rule change as getting two people on and the other one jumps off you can really steal the ball.
"I was very lucky on the weekend and hopefully I get lucky again over the next couple of weeks."
For Munster, his immediate focus is on maintaining the Storm's unbeaten start to the season when they take on the Bulldogs at home on Sunday afternoon.
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The Storm have won their last two encounters against the Bulldogs, but prior to that had lost six straight matches in a streak that went back to midway through the 2013 season.
And that's exactly why Munster won't be taking Dean Pay's side lightly during the round-four clash.
"They played some real good footy on the weekend," Munster said.
