Cameron Munster knows Sydney Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is coming for him in Friday night’s NRL grand final qualifier and says he’s ready for it.
The star Melbourne playmaker has long been in the cross-hairs of the firebrand prop, with Munster emerging from a 2016 scrap between the pair with his jersey in tatters.
Ahead of their preliminary final at AAMI Park, Munster said he knew he would again be a target.
“That’s Jared being Jared – I’m not going to sugar-coat it, I know he’s coming this Friday,” Munster said at the team’s media day in Melbourne on Tuesday.
“That’s rugby league, it’s a contact sport and you don’t play it as touch footy so I know what I’m out there for and I know exactly what he’s going to bring. I’m ready for the battle, I’m excited for it.
“We’re one game away from giving ourselves an opportunity to create history as a group and we all know what’s on the line.
“I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of heated aggression out there on Friday night and it’s just a matter of who controls it the best.”
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Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona also has a fierce history with his Kiwis teammate Waerea-Hargreaves and skipped the media day, unwilling to provide any fuel for the fire.
Melbourne skipper Harry Grant said he expected Asofa-Solomona not to get caught up in the emotion, with the match potentially Waerea-Hargreaves’ last in the NRL ahead of his shift to play in the UK.
“Nelson is so important to our team and we want Nelson on the field for as long as possible, we don’t want him in the sin-bin or giving away penalties,” Grant said.
(Matt King/Getty Images)
“But he’s been so mature and experienced with the way he’s handled the last couple of months, I don’t think Nelson will be keen or needs to get involved.”
Melbourne duo Munster and Jahrome Hughes will face a new halves pairing with 21-year-old Sandon Smith joining veteran Rooster Luke Keary.
In only Smith’s fourth start of the year and 10th overall in the NRL, Munster said it was difficult to know what the youngster would produce in such a high-stakes game.
But he could see similarities between Smith and the player he replaced, injured halfback Sam Walker.
“He’s (Smith) only started a couple of games it’s hard to say what he’ll be able to bring,” said 30-year-old Munster, who has been doing extra wrestling to make sure his troublesome groin gets through the finals campaign.
“He looks like one of those kids that is a bit like Sammy Walker in a way; ad-lib, fast, good on their feet, probably can create things that some people can’t.
Cameron Munster is tackled. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
“Sometimes when you play against guys like Nathan Cleary, Nicho Hynes, you know their traits or things that they do in the game but where you haven’t really seen a whole heap on Sandon Smith so you’ve got to go out there and be aware.”
Blayke Brailey has heard the damning statistics that link his running game out of dummy-half to Cronulla’s win rate.
In the 16 matches that he has runs more than 30 metres this season, the Sharks have won 87 per cent of those contests.
And in the 10 games where he hasn’t run as much out of dummy-half, Cronulla have only won three.
“My partner actually saw this somewhere and told me about it,” Brailey said.
“It was a stat I didn’t know, it’s actually pretty interesting.”
In theory, the importance of Brailey’s dummy-half runs make a lot of sense.
When the hooker is able to scoot out, it also allows Nicho Hynes and Braydon Trindall to play on the front foot.
Blayke Brailey is tackled. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
But in reality, Brailey does not believe it is as simple as just trying to run more.
“I feel like there are a few moving parts that have to happen for me to run,” he said.
“I am not just going to run on a slow play-the-ball, because if you look at me I am not the biggest person.
“But I do know that once our middles have a roll on and I start to run, it takes the pressure off the halves and they start running too.
“I definitely have a goal to run as much as I can each week. I know for my own game it is better if I do run.
“And I know for the team, it helps them too. The washing machine in the middle is pretty tiring so if I can run it relieves some pressure on our middles.”
Brailey had had one of the more unique preparations for Saturday night’s preliminary final against Penrith.
He spent all of his 26th birthday on Monday with blu-tack in his right ear after suffering cauliflower ear after the win over North Queensland.
But a bigger challenge awaits for him and the Sharks pack on the field against the Panthers and their all-star middle.
Of all NRL rivals, Fox Sports Stats shows that Brailey averages less running metres against the three-time defending premiers than any other team.
In seven games starting against Penrith, he is yet to even run 20 metres.
Cronulla’s 42-0 loss to the Panthers earlier this year marked Brailey’s quietest night of the season, getting out of dummy-half just once for 10 metres.
But as far as Brailey is concerned, that game is now history.
“We’re obviously a different team since that last encounter. I am sure everyone didn’t plan for the game to go that way,” Brailey said.
“They’re the in-form team at the moment and have obviously done so much in the past few years.
“They know how to win finals games, so we need to be at our best to beat them.”
© AAP
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