3 minute read
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy trusts Cameron Munster's inspiring second half against Gold Coast will be the first of many leading NRL performances by his star.
When he saw Cameron Munster verbally directing his Melbourne teammates after a try in the second half of the 34-20 NRL win over Gold Coast, Storm coach Craig Bellamy knew.
From that moment, Bellamy recognised that his star half was in the mood to drag his team to a 19th-straight win - matching the all-time premiership record of the 1975 Sydney Roosters in the process.
The match-winning five-eighth not only scored a try and set up another in Thursday's contest but he was also at the heart of every attack as the Storm piled on four second-half tries to overturn at 16-12 halftime deficit against the Titans.
"The thing that sort of stood out to me is, we scored that first try in the second half and then when they got back, and Paps (Ryan Papenhuyzen) was taking the conversion, he was doing all the talking," Bellamy said.
"He doesn't do that too often, all the talk. He'll have a bit of a chat but he was doing all of it.
"So I knew he had his head in the second half - and I think we've seen that.
"If he hadn't come up with the second half that he came up with, I'm not quite sure we would have got the points."
The challenge now for Munster is harnessing that spirit for the Storm's future games as they look to not only eclipse the Roosters' winning-streak but secure a second-straight premiership.
After a year marred by injury and struggles for consistent form, Bellamy believes the 26-year-old is timing his run towards the finals perfectly.
"He's been through an Origin series as well. He had one week off but other than that he's played all the games," Bellamy said.
"Some guys come out of Origin reasonably quickly and some don't.
"Munster's always been a guy that it probably takes him a little bit of time to get out of Origin because it flattens them physically and flattens them mentally.
"But his second half, that was very encouraging and hopefully he can turn that into 80 minutes next week."
