How Storm beat Broncos to Cameron Munster’s signature

Joel Gould and Melissa Woods | September 7, 2023

Cameron Munster says he would not be the player he is today if he signed at Brisbane instead of Melbourne back in 2013.

The Broncos just wish they had a chance to sit down with him face-to-face at the time and make a compelling pitch.

Munster will line up for the Storm at No.6 on Friday night in the qualifying final at Suncorp Stadium against Brisbane, a showdown that always brings out his best.

There is a long history to why he initially signed at Melbourne and not the Broncos as an 18-year-old.

All is fair in love and war they say, and in the case of NRL recruitment it is without doubt a war. 

Steven Parle, Brisbane’s welfare officer today, was working for the club in recruitment through Rockhampton and Central Queensland in 2013. Munster, who had been to a Broncos development camp months earlier, was starring for the CQ Capras in the Queensland Cup.

Parle went to see Munster when he was working on the shoe counter at an Intersport store in Rockhampton to tell him the club was keen to bring him down to play in the U20s side that was being coached by Craig Hodges.

“The Broncos were definitely keen on Cameron. We would have welcomed him with open arms,” Hodges confirmed to AAP.

The Parle visit had been ticked off by former head Broncos coach Anthony Griffin and current head of recruitment Simon Scanlan, who had led the elite player development program. Parle’s conversation with Munster went well.

Scanlan contacted Munster’s former manager Shaun Pyne to offer a contract and organise a meeting with the player, but was frustrated by the radio silence that followed. A week later Munster was signed by the Storm.

Melbourne recruitment chief Paul Bunn, who once had that had the role at Brisbane, has eyes and ears in Rockhampton where he taught at St Brendan’s College.

He had the jump on the Broncos for several reasons.

The legendary ex-head coach of St Brendan’s College, Terry Hansen, coached against Munster when he played with Emmaus College. He had been in Bunn’s ear about the magical Munster.

Paul Grant, the father of current Storm hooker Harry Grant, had also given Bunn the good oil on the rugby league magician.

Bunn said Munster had earlier been in a Broncos development squad in Rockhampton as an U15s player, but received a letter saying he was no longer in it.

Several years later when Bunn went to the Storm he was watching Munster carve up for Capras and contacted Pyne, who brought him down to the club. Munster fell in love with the joint and signed on for $5000, possibly the best value for money signing in Melbourne history.

Pyne also had a rapport with Bunn, who had taught him at St Brendan’s College.

Reflecting on it now, Bunn told AAP that “it turned out great for us and for Cameron and his lovely family. I am pleased he came our way.”

There is still banter between the parties over how it unfolded, due partly to the close connections of the key players in the Munster story. Parle taught with Bunn at The Cathedral College in Rockhampton and coached him at Brothers Rockhampton.

Parle has known Munster since he was in primary school and they still joke about how he “nearly” became a Bronco.

This year in Queensland camp, the Maroons trained at Broncos HQ twice.

Munster had Parle in a playful headlock and said, “where is my Broncos gear?” Parle told him, “you had your chance”.

In July 2020, Munster said: “As a young kid I obviously always wanted to be a Bronco. I loved watching them. They were my team.”

He has also been quoted several times saying the Broncos didn’t want him, perhaps as a self-motivation tool to make sure he fires every time he plays them.

Reminded of the Broncos/Storm saga this week, Munster told AAP that being coached by Craig Bellamy and learning from the “Big Three” – retired greats Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith – transformed his career.

“I think the best decision I ever made was to come down here. I could have been at the Brisbane Broncos. Who knows? I may not have even played for Brisbane,” Munster said.

“I got lucky to come down to a system where I understood the game a lot better. I probably wouldn’t have understood the game if I’d gone to the Broncs, no disrespect to them.

“Just the way the Big Three played and how they dissected the game made me want to be a smarter player. It made me think more about my game. I don’t think I would have been able to learn that at another club.”

Munster has won two NRL titles, a World Cup and several State of Origin series in his decade at the Storm. He has never lost to Brisbane at Suncorp and Melbourne have not been beaten at the venue since 2009. Munster knows why.

“I take it as a challenge,” he said.

“They have been a great club for such a long time and it stemmed … from Smithy and Bellyache (Bellamy). The Big Three always made that game with Brisbane a big one on the calendar and we’ve always wanted to play well at Suncorp.”