When the Maroons needed him the most, skipper Cameron Munster found a way, even when some feared his night could be over due to a head knock.
Midway through the first half, it was Munster who stripped the ball from Kotoni Staggs and with it momentum from the Blues. Then it was the Maroons No.6’s hurled pass that led to the Maroons’ first try moments later.
But as Munster flung that pass, he was tackled head-first into the unforgiving MCG turf. Doctors immediately forced him to the rooms for a head injury assessment.
Any chance the Maroons had of remaining in this match and the series seemed to rest on that 15 minutes of testing time. Thankfully for Queensland, the Melbourne Storm playmaker found a way to pass it and return for the second half.
In the second half, it was Munster’s fearless kicking that set up tries for Selwyn Cobbo and Jojo Fifita as a crowd of 91,671 cheered them on. The Maroons snatched the lead and were never headed again.
“I was watching the last bit of the first half while I was doing the HIA and I could see how hard we were working and how we were doing all the little things for each other that we talk about between these walls,” Munster said.
“From the way we scrambled [at the end of the half] and that we were only down four points, I knew we could definitely get our game going.
“We didn’t have a perfect first half, but we had a great second half.”
Maroons and Storm forward Trent Loiero noticed from pregame that Munster was set for a big game.
“Munny goes to another gear when he puts on a Maroon jersey, I think everyone knows that,” Loiero said.
“He went to another level in that second half, he put us on his back and he led the way. From the start of the game when he gave his pregame speech, you could see from the look in his eye that he was on tonight, he led from the front, and we followed.”
Make no mistake, Munster was not an army of one as the likes of Sam Walker, Fifita, Harry Grant, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and several other Maroons lifted just as much as their skipper.
Walker’s poise and accurate kicking game made a big difference from the opening penalty goal to converting the all seven tries, not to mention his in-game kicks.
Munster can now lead the Maroons back to his second home at Suncorp Stadium with the chance to follow in the footsteps of Wally Lewis, Darren Lockyer and Johnathan Thurston and take his state to another series win.
But like those legends, he will need to bring his younger, newer teammates with him. If he can conjure another performance like this one, the Maroons will be hard to beat.
The Maroons looked in all sorts of trouble six minutes in when Staggs scored a shock try following a fumble from prop Thomas Flegler from the kick-off.
It seemed like the Maroons could drop their bundle, especially when Mark Nawaqanitawase scored in the corner for a 12-2 lead after 20 minutes.
The Maroons’ defensive energy was severely lacking at this stage while penalties and six-agains were starting to add up.
Then Munster found a way to lift his troops as he stripped Staggs as he tried to step him.
You can criticise Munster for a lot of things, but he instinctively knows when his team needs a lift, especially at representative level.
The Maroons hadn’t won at the MCG since 1995 and faced all kinds of questions following their horror flame-out in game one of this series.
Queensland have some tough decisions to make as their forwards struggled at times to keep with their Blues opponents while Reece Walsh looks desperate to get involved, if there is a role for him.
But in the second half at the MCG, they gave a very nervous-looking coach Billy Slater a chance to take a deep breath. A Suncorp decider awaits.
More State of Origin II coverage
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Roy Ward is a sports writer, live blogger and breaking news journalist. He’s been writing for The Age since 2010.Connect via X or email.
