Why tough players go MIA when tough conversations are needed

When NRL coaches and heads of football are asked how a player communicates a decision to sign elsewhere, the usual response is: “The good ones tell you; the rest leave it to their managers.”

Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett would agree, lacerating the Storm’s Cameron Munster on Brisbane radio on Friday for not being a “man” and calling him to reject an offer from the NRL’s newest franchise.

The previous evening, the Storm sent out a press release, announcing Munster’s new four-year deal. The club; Munster’s manager, Braith Anasta; his partner Bianca and advisors told the 28-year-old he must phone Bennett. It’s a paradox that a player who is so dominating on the field would hate confrontations off it and Munster vacillated over calling the man who coached him in Queensland’s victorious State of Origin team in 2020.

The only arrangement Munster made with the Storm was for the press release to be sent after he had cleared Customs Thursday night en route to England for the World Cup.

An hour out of London, he responded to a text informing him of Bennett’s tirade and asking if he had communicated with Bennett.

He admitted, “Braith advised me to call after the announcement but I was waiting in the lounge and about to board.”

Bennett also told Brisbane radio he had resigned himself some time ago to Munster’s rejection. This is at odds with a presentation the Dolphins made to Munster in his Sydney hotel room on the eve of the Dally M awards. A week earlier, while playing golf with Anasta, Munster said the gap between the Dolphins and Storm offers was too great and he asked Anasta to communicate this to the Dolphins.

But the November 1 deadline preventing a player signing elsewhere was more than a month away. A 4½-hour lunch with a Storm confidante on NRL grand final day – Munster drank only fizzy water – convinced him to stay in Melbourne. He was reminded of his competitive nature and the fact only winning teams sing the club song. “You’ll be at the Dolphins four years and not know the words of the song,” he was told.

On Tuesday, Munster informed Storm chairman Matt Tripp that he would accept his offer.

Bennett is right when he says many players “go missing” when the “tough conversations have to be had”.

When Greg Inglis visited the Storm this year, he told the players of a time more torturous than any tackle, injury or loss he endured over a long career.

Former Storm star Greg Inglis.Credit:Getty

It was the occasion in 2010 he had to inform Storm coach Craig Bellamy that he was leaving the club. The team was in Adelaide for a match and Inglis approached head of football, Frank Ponissi, asking if he would convey the news to Bellamy.

“No, you have to do it yourself,” Ponissi said. Inglis was a picture of misery, with eyes downcast and looking very forlorn. Ponissi eventually volunteered to accompany Inglis to meet Bellamy. Inglis duly conveyed the news, describing it as “the toughest thing I’ve had to do,” even though he was doing the club a favour. The Storm had to shed players to fit 2011 payments under the salary cap, following the breaches uncovered by an NRL audit.

If Bennett feels he has been taken for a ride by Munster, he needs to remember he has ditched clubs at the altar, particularly the Dragons.

In 2015, having left the Knights a year earlier than contracted, Bennett considered rejoining the Dragons but his preference was to return to the Broncos. Accompanied by his manager and trainer, Bennett met with St George Illawarra CEO Peter Doust on a Friday and agreed to the Dragons deal.

However, in his overtures to the Broncos, Bennett had been told he would need the assent of Lachlan Murdoch whose News Corporation owned 67 per cent of the club. Lachlan’s endorsement came through later on the Friday. Doust had called a special meeting at St George Leagues club for noon the following day, seeking board approval for the deal. Doust received a phone call from a friend that morning warning him Bennett would renege. Asked later, when did Bennett inform him, Doust said, “about an hour before the board meeting.”

Whereas, Bennett did finally make the call, Munster didn’t but the spurned suitors reacted differently. Doust took it on the chin “like a man”. Bennett monstered Munster.

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