- On-field rivalry will continue into Sunday’s decider
- Storm lynchpin said pair ‘don’t really like each other’
Storm star Cameron Munster’s mum has told him to patch up his differences with Penrith’s Liam Martin ahead of Sunday’s NRL grand final because she ‘hates confrontation’.
Earlier this week the Melbourne star said he is ready to renew bitter hostilities with the Panthers enforcer after revealing the pair ‘didn’t really like each other’ as Kangaroos teammates.
Martin shot back with, ‘I thought we were fine, but obviously we’re not. I don’t really care.’
Now Munster has revealed his mother Debbie had words with him once the feud came to light.
‘Mum is mum, she hates confrontation,’ the five-eighth told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘She said, “You need to make sure you go out there and make amends with Liam”. She loves her footy. She’s a big fan of Liam. We’ll see how we go.’
The grand final will be latest chapter in a spicy ongoing battle between the pair, who have clashed repeatedly in the State of Origin arena.
In game one of the 2021 series the Queensland playmaker was fined after kicking a prone Martin in the stomach, while last year the NSW second-rower said he planned to ‘test out’ Munster’s fractured ribs.
The mother of Storm star Cameron Munster (pictured) has urged him to build bridges after he admitted he and Liam Martin ‘don’t really like each other’
Martin (pictured) has a history of on-field clashes with the Melbourne Storm five-eighth
Before the 2021 preliminary final between the rival clubs Martin said he had put a target on the Storm star.
Martin said he intended to single out Munster again in Sunday’s premiership decider and at least goad him into conceding a couple of easy penalties.
Munster has grand final form, sin-binned twice in the 2018 loss to the Sydney Roosters.
‘I’m going to have to,’ said Martin, who has been a key cog in Penrith’s three successive titles.
‘He’s such a quality player and I love coming up against him in the battles that we have so this will be no different.’
The Storm No.6 admitted that Martin had previously gotten under his skin and he would be ready for more niggle.
He said the pair had history off the field as well as on.
‘It’s funny, looking back on it, we probably didn’t like each other in Aussie camps although we get along pretty well at the moment,’ Munster said on Monday before the Storm’s open training session.
‘I’m sure that will be a little bit different on Sunday so I’m looking forward to the battle.
The clash between the two State of Origin adversaries will be one of the highlights of Sunday’s decider, which sees Penrith out to avenge their 2020 grand final loss to the Storm
‘We’ve always had a great rivalry and wanted to be competitive and get one over each other – he’ll want to take my head off and vice versa.
‘He’s a quality player, very strong and very aggressive … I know he’s coming so I’m just going to go out there and play the footy that I can play.
‘He’s tried to get under my skin and it worked a few times so I’ve got to go out there and not get frazzled.’
As they are this season, Melbourne were the minor premiers going into the 2021 preliminary final but were outplayed 10-6 by Penrith, who then went on to beat South Sydney in the first of three straight titles.
‘We were playing really good footy that year and played the worst game in the biggest game but they were just the better team on the night,’ Munster said.
‘It’s one of those years that you always look back on, the year that got away.’
Their most recent grand final meeting was in 2020, won 26-20 by the Storm, which was their last title.
Martin believes it set the fires burning for the Panthers’ premiership run.
‘I think it did,’ the 27-year-old said.
‘If you talk to anyone who loses a GF it has a pretty big toll on you and you go away and get even hungrier so it’s driven us, when it first happened.’