Can magic Munster inspire Maroons in Melbourne?


The latest State of Origin instalment rolls in to Australia’s sporting Colosseum on Wednesday (8:05pm AEST) as the Melbourne Cricket Ground hosts game two of this year’s series between the New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons.

NSW have won five of six outings when the Steeden football replaces the Sherrin at The MCG in what is Australian Rules heartland.

Leading 1-0 after a dramatic 22-20 comeback victory in game one, more than 90,000 spectators are expected in attendance to see whether the Blues can claim the series or the Maroons can take it to a third game.

This is familiar territory for some of the Queenslanders, though, both in a literal and physical sense. Despite losing game one last year, they roared back to take the bragging rights, spearheaded by their captain Cameron Munster who plays his club rugby for Melbourne Storm, just 400 metres away from where Wednesday night’s clash will take place.

Munster’s legacy at domestic, representative and international level is assured. He is a great of the game whose high standards drive his teammates to titles and trophies. Yet, even by his own admission, he hasn’t reached the heights one would expect this season and was arguably outshone by his halves partner Sam Walker in Sydney just three weeks ago.

The fact he has it in his locker to inspire his state to victory and take the outcome of compelling contest to a third match in the same week as making his landmark 250th Storm appearance, might just be enough for a healthy portion of Victorians to cheer on one of their adopted sons.

Stay tuned.

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