MITCHELL JOHNSON: Cam Munster’s Origin performance jogs memories of playing after Phil Hughes’s death

Queensland’s stirring State of Origin triumph will long be remembered for the contribution of captain Cameron Munster, who played just days after the death of his father.

It was an effort labelled by coach Billy Slater as being as courageous and brave as he had ever seen.

These are incredibly tough moments in anyone’s life, so for Munster to go out there and lead his side under the circumstances shows his strength of character. It would have been extremely hard to do what he did.

Following the 24-12 win in game three Munster said that his dad would have wanted him to take his place and that he looked to the sky and asked him for energy before the match.

To be able to focus on the job at hand wouldn’t have been easy in such a high-pressure situation and, as much as he was the skipper, the support from his teammates and coaches would have helped carry him through.

Having fortunately not been faced with that choice before a big game, I can’t say what decision I would have made.

But I do remember playing in the Test match following the death of Phil Hughes and really struggling with that. I didn’t think I was going to be able to play but Michael Clarke said to us, ‘let’s do it for Hughesy, he’d want us to keep doing what we love’.

As a parent you want the best for your child, you want them to do the things they enjoy and are good at. In Munster’s situation, I think I would have tried to play because it would be for them and they would want me to be doing what I love. But really I couldn’t be sure if my emotions would get the better of me.

Slater copped a hammering after the loss in game one and some of his decisions that were criticised ended up being the right ones. He followed what he thought was best and stuck to his guns.

Dropping Daly Cherry-Evans – the first time the Maroons has dropped a captain mid-series for nearly 30 years - was not something you want to play around with in such an intense and passionate series, but it worked.

Queensland held off a fighting New South Wales in game two, which earned them the chance at a decider.

Going back to the Blues’ 18-6 victory in game one, the mentality of each side is what I find interesting about team sport.

I wonder if NSW started to believe what was being said in the media and by their own fans? Was this series in the bag for them?

Writing from a Queenslander’s point of view, Queensland teams play with heart and determination and will always fight to the end no matter what.

Even ahead of the decider, it seems from the outside that NSW thought it was just going to happen at home. But in a reversal from game one, Queensland played a full 80 minutes of quality football that completely took the wind out of the Blues’ sails.

The Maroons played as a unit on Wednesday night and you could see a stark difference from game one – better in defence, a better running game and keeping it simple.

It was all too much for NSW fans as they started to leave the game early, not wanting to stay to see the end or the trophy presentation.

I know this is from a player’s perspective, but it reminded me of the 2009 Ashes when Australia lost 2-1. The England players got up to receive the urn and our captain Ricky Ponting told us to stay and watch them celebrate.

Ponting wanted us all to see them enjoying victory so we knew that feeling and we would be determined to win the next series. It gave us motivation to be at our best in the next Ashes series.

For 2025, it’s Queensland doing all the celebrating after a well-deserved series win, and NSW will have that gut-wrenching feeling of what could have been. I look forward to the next chapter in 2026.