'Right time, right place': Munster casts aside doubts on Origin eve

Queensland captain Cameron Munster declared his return to form as the Storm ended a seven-match losing streak was a case of "right time, right place" as he prepares for Origin.

Munster, who is set to have a new halves partner for the upcoming series after Tom Dearden was ruled out with a syndesmosis injury, admitted that he had begun to doubt himself during Melbourne's unprecedented losing run.

He responded by entering Sunday's game against Wests Tigers, with - in the words of coach Craig Bellamy - a “look in his eye”, and he delivered a two-try performance to help the Storm triumph 44-16 at AAMI Park.

With Jahrome Hughes, Harry Grant and Sua Fa'alogo, Munster was part of a spine that controlled the game - particularly when the Storm piled on 20 unanswered points early in the first half.

“When you start losing six or seven [games], you start questioning yourself - are you still up for the challenge?,” Munster said. “I’ve always got that competitive nature. Once I lose that, I'll not want to play anymore.

"To lose games, it is what it is. You can sit down, kick cans all you want, be a victim. You always you question yourself - not after two or three losses, but when you start losing six or seven, you think, am I the problem?

“They’re a great class outfit the Tigers, and we came to play. We’ve got to do that next week.

"You can always have those question marks over yourself… my job is to go out there and play footy, so when I’m not up to scratch, you always ask those questions over whether you can be.”

Grant, the Storm captain, spoke about Munster’s competitive nature during the post-match press conference, saying: “He’s one of the harshest critics of himself. He really demands a lot from himself".

The pair have played together at the Storm since 2018 and have been regular team-mates for Queensland and Australia.

“Sometimes he tries to bring other people into the game, whereas sometimes Cam Munster is the strength of the team when he gets his game on. He’s the ultimate competitor, and he’s shown that over the last little bit," Grant said.

“Today, we had some people inside and outside that got their roles down, and helped him play his game and perform to the level that we know he can.

“People are pretty quick to jump to criticism. I steer clear of it, fingers crossed he has. He knows how good he is, and we’ve got to just keep reminding him of that, and hopefully he brings that to our team.”

It was a timely performance from Munster, who reminded Maroons coach Billy Slater exactly what he can produce ahead of the opening Origin at Accor Stadium on May 27.

Munster and Grant are hoping to lead Queensland to victory in Sydney so they have the chance to win the series in front of Melbourne fans in Origin II at the MCG on June 17.

“This performance was just the right time, right place [for Origin]," he said. "It would have been lovely to do what I've done today five or six weeks ago, but sometimes it doesn’t pan out.

"You’ve always got to go through hard times and adversity, and hopefully we can get out of that rut, and there's a challenge ahead of us.