Ponissi confirms Munster’s minutes to be managed in return game

After over two months on the sidelines with a groin injury, Cameron Munster is all but set to return for the Melbourne Storm this Friday night against the Parramatta Eels.

Munster re-aggravated a groin injury suffered in preseason during his side’s Round 10 clash against the Eels and has now been given six games to prepare for the Storm’s finals run in 2024.

Melbourne initially named Munster on the extended bench for this weekend, with the impressive combination of Jahrome Hughes and Tyran Wishart holding their spots in the halves for the time being.

Although Munster’s inclusion is yet to be formally confirmed, the Storm’s GM of Football, Frank Ponissi alluded to a return on Friday night, albeit under a minutes restriction.

“We’ll manage him,” Ponissi said on SEN Afternoons.

“He’s obviously missed a fair bit of footy, I think it’s been seven weeks now since he hasn’t played.

“He has trained the last few works but there’s nothing like game time.

“Whether he plays the 80 minutes, we’ll work out how he goes.

“If he doesn't play 80 minutes this week, by next week we think he'll get close to that 80 minutes.”

Munster has only made seven appearances this year for the Storm, scoring two tries and setting up eight in his limited playing time.

The Storm have also been dealing with injury problems from star fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen, who is currently playing through a foot concern that is limiting his ability to train.

“Week to week we need to manage him, that’s just the way it is,” Ponissi added.

“He’s got a minor foot complaint at the moment so he doesn’t do all the training sessions but it’s one of those injuries we believe will heal.

“Hopefully in a couple weeks he can train fully with the squad, hopefully, he’s not too far away.

“He’s certainly still offering a lot, he was terrific last week against the Roosters, what he does for our team in attack and defence, and also from a leadership point of view is just so important.

“Having him on that field is critical to our performance.”