‘You’ve still got to stop them’: Cameron Munster warns the Blues that Craig Bellamy’s inside mail may not work against Maroons stars

The Blues will be hoping that Craig Bellamy can provide crucial intel on his Storm players in his role as NSW adviser for next year’s State of Origin series, but Melbourne five-eighth Cameron Munster says it’s one thing to plan for someone and another thing trying to stop them as his Maroons look to win back the shield.

Bellamy will join Laurie Daley’s coaching staff in 2025 in a new role, with the veteran Storm boss making it clear how uncomfortable he felt coaching against his Storm players when he was in charge of the Blues from 2008-10.

He won just two of his nine games in charge but returns to a winning environment where he’ll have to devise plans to stop Storm stars Munster, Harry Grant and Xavier Coates who are likely to be picked next year.

Bellamy being in camp with the Blues has been made easier by the Storm having byes before the first two Origin matches, but regardless of his involvement, Munster knows his coach will have plans in place to ensure nothing changes while he’s gone.

“He rang me and asked if it was all right, so I’m pretty much his dad,” the five-eighth joked.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for him. I know it’s probably frustrating for a couple of the players in our team because we’re probably going to go up against him in Origin.

“But he’s Storm first and he’ll worry about that stuff later. He’s more present than he is (worried) about the future, so he’ll make sure we get everything right before he goes away to camp.

“He might learn some stuff off other people like Laurie or other coaching staff. You learn something new every day, so he could end up bringing back something for us which is surprisingly weird for a bloke who has been around the game for a long time.

“Hopefully, we can get the wood over him because I’d love to.”

Bellamy struggled when he had to coach against Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Greg Inglis and Cooper Cronk, and Munster warned the Blues that intel may not mean much next year.

The Storm spent countless hours coming up with ways in which they thought they could limit the Panthers in the grand final, but those plans didn’t stop Penrith from winning a fourth title in a row.

“You do a lot of video and a lot of work on a lot of players, but at the end of the day, you’ve still got to stop them,” Munster said.

“In the grand final we did a lot of video on a lot of Penrith players and the way that they play and the way that they run their shape, but it didn’t work.

“On the night or day, you can do so much work but other things might happen.

“I’ve still got to be picked. Harry has obviously got his name pencilled in already.

“It’s probably going to make us better as players as well because we’ll need to change little things with the way me play.

“He might make us better. Hopefully, that happens.”