As Melbourne Storm look ahead to their upcoming Qualifying Final clash with the Brisbane Broncos on Friday night, an energetic home side is not the only obstacle Storm stars Nick Meaney and Cameron Munster are preparing for.
Having only gone head-to-head in Queensland a week ago, players returning to Melbourne reported difficulties communicating on-field amongst an excited crowd at Suncorp Stadium.
“The boys were saying last week that game was very loud. They couldn't really hear each other, so we had the crowd noise playing on the speakers at AAMI [Park], trying to replicate that noise,” Nick Meaney said.
Meaney: "Every game is different"
“It's always a good atmosphere up there in Suncorp.”
“I'm sure there's going to be a lot of fans there...and it's going to be very hard to hear,” Cameron Munster said.
With the Broncos taking the field for their first Finals run since 2018 and Storm entering their 13th consecutive Finals appearance, all fans, no matter the jersey, will be ready to share their pride. A sentiment not lost on the five-eighth who often calls the stadium a second home when pulling on his Maroons jersey for Origin.
“Obviously with a couple of us Queenslanders in the side, it's always going to be a big game regardless of whoever [Storm] are playing in Queensland,” continued Munster.
“I get booed when I play for Melbourne against Broncos, but they jump on the bandwagon when it comes to Queensland - It is what it is, it's just a passionate state.
I'm really excited and hopefully we can go there and give our fans what they deserve.
Cameron Munster
While Melbourne also enter the arena with 14-straight wins over the Brisbane side, it’s a potential safety-net not considered for those taking the field.
“At the end of the day, each game is different from one another,” Meaney said.
“There are different teams now, so we're not really binding to all the stats and all the things behind that. We just got to go out there and play our own game.”
“It's finals footy, anything can happen. The best thing about final footy is the pressure,” added Munster.
“If we go there and play the style of footy we know we can play we’ll obviously have a really good night for ourselves.”
Munster: "The best thing about finals footy is the pressure"
