Melbourne Storm star Cam Munster has opened up on his big life adjustment after he and his wife Bianca welcomed their third child into the world two weeks ago.
Daughter Blake was born seven weeks premature, just days before the Storm began their finals campaign.
She is the couple’s third child after Jaxon (two) and Jagger (one).
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Munster explained his wife had a minor complication, which led to the early birth, but there are no problems with Blake.
“She’s (Blake) in hospital for the next 10 weeks … a lot of parking (at the hospital) at the moment, hopefully can get that back on tax,” he said with a laugh.
“She’s good, my wife had a bit of a complication and she came a little early, but that’s life and they’re both good so no problems. there.”
Munster said he has taken on a bigger role looking after his two boys and is already looking forward to his daughter coming home.
“For me I’m probably the other side. I’m sitting at home and spending time with the boys,he said.
“As much as I love going to see my daughter, it’s a bit of trek going up there and just sitting there watching her sleep. As much as I like to get up there, Bianca is probably more of the considerate one and has to go there to obviously breastfeed and do all that type of stuff as mums do.
“Once she comes home, I’ll be very hands on, but at the moment I’m just keeping the two boys at bay.”
Three kids under three, even if one is in hospital, sounds like tough work on the sleep front, but Munster isn’t fussed.
“I don’t really need too much sleep to keep going, just very fortunate that I don’t need sleep to operate and get myself going during the day,” he said.
Ahead of Friday night’s preliminary final against the Sydney Roosters, Munster knows he’ll be a target for Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
The star Melbourne playmaker has long been in the cross-hairs of the firebrand prop, with Munster emerging from a 2016 scrap between the pair with his jersey in tatters.
“That’s Jared being Jared – I’m not going to sugar-coat it, I know he’s coming this Friday,” Munster said at the team’s media day in Melbourne on Tuesday.
“That’s rugby league, it’s a contact sport and you don’t play it as touch footy so I know what I’m out there for and I know exactly what he’s going to bring. I’m ready for the battle, I’m excited for it.
“We’re one game away from giving ourselves an opportunity to create history as a group and we all know what’s on the line.
“I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of heated aggression out there on Friday night and it’s just a matter of who controls it the best.”
Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona also has a fierce history with his Kiwis teammate Waerea-Hargreaves and skipped the media day, unwilling to provide any fuel for the fire.
Melbourne skipper Harry Grant said he expected Asofa-Solomona not to get caught up in the emotion, with the match potentially Waerea-Hargreaves’ last in the NRL ahead of his shift to play in the UK.
“Nelson is so important to our team and we want Nelson on the field for as long as possible, we don’t want him in the sin-bin or giving away penalties,” Grant said.
“But he’s been so mature and experienced with the way he’s handled the last couple of months, I don’t think Nelson will be keen or needs to get involved.”
Melbourne duo Munster and Jahrome Hughes will face a new halves pairing with 21-year-old Sandon Smith joining veteran Rooster Luke Keary.
In only Smith’s fourth start of the year and 10th overall in the NRL, Munster said it was difficult to know what the youngster would produce in such a high-stakes game.
But he could see similarities between Smith and the player he replaced, injured halfback Sam Walker.
“He’s (Smith) only started a couple of games it’s hard to say what he’ll be able to bring,” said 30-year-old Munster, who has been doing extra wrestling to make sure his troublesome groin gets through the finals campaign.
“He looks like one of those kids that is a bit like Sammy Walker in a way; ad-lib, fast, good on their feet, probably can create things that some people can’t.
“Sometimes when you play against guys like Nathan Cleary, Nicho Hynes, you know their traits or things that they do in the game but where you haven’t really seen a whole heap on Sandon Smith so you’ve got to go out there and be aware.”
– With AAP