Melbourne Storm premiership winner Cameron Munster and wife Bianca have announced the safe arrival of their third child.
Their first daughter was not due until well after the NRL finals, which begin this weekend, but made “a grand entrance seven weeks early”.
“In absolute awe of the new addition to our family. Blake Maria Munster,” the couple wrote.
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While the baby has made an unexpected arrival, navigating a newborn during the NRL season is familiar territory.
The Munsters welcomed son Jagger in August last year.
They became parents for the first time when son Jaxon was born in 2021, and announced the most recent pregnancy at Melbourne’s AAMI Park home ground with a miniature Storm jersey.
Latrell Mitchell and Ryan Papenhuyzen were among the teammates to congratulate the Munsters on the new addition this week.
“Yessssssss this is amazing,” Munster’s manager and league great Braith Anasta said.
Munster and the Storm host Cronulla in a qualifying final on Saturday, with a win guaranteeing the minor premiers a week off and one more home game before a possible NRL grand final appearance.
Melbourne’s ascension to the premiership decider for the first time since 2020 has appeared a certainty through their march to finishing on top of the ladder.
Craig Bellamy’s side have won 11 of their past 12 matches when playing with anything close to a full-strength squad.
Munster, 29, missed the start of the season with a groin complaint and another two months in the middle when it led to an adductor tendon tear.
But he has played the last seven games, and Melbourne could now be boosted by Papenhuyzen’s return for the finals.
Wednesday’s training session will conclusively determine whether Papenhuyzen has recovered from a leg injury suffered during Melbourne’s penultimate regular-season fixture.
Substituted out of that game, the injury-plagued fullback also missed last week’s win over Brisbane to rest his bone bruising, but has since returned to the track.
“I had a little run the other day and felt sweet,” Papenhuyzen said.
“We’ll get more of a gauge on it (on Wednesday), but I’m confident, the medical staff seem confident, so I should be sweet for the first week.”
His likely recovery will be a relief to the Storm, who won’t have replacement fullback Sua Fa’alogo back from a hamstring issue until the third week of the finals.
A serious concussion, fractured kneecap, hamstring tear and two broken ankles have combined to restrict Papenhuyzen to only 47 games across the past four years.
The 26-year-old admitted he had again feared the prospect of another long lay-off when he went down with his latest injury against North Queensland.
“It’s quite natural, right,” Papenhuyzen said.
“Those periods of ‘Why me?’ probably get shorter every time, but they’re still there.”
The fullback has become used to looking on the bright side during his injury struggles, pointing out he has managed more games this year than in any other since the Storm’s 2020 premiership season.
“Injuries are a part of any sport and unfortunately I’ve had a few,” Papenhuyzen said.
“But at the same time I’ve had a pretty good year this year. I think I’ve played 17 games altogether and I’m confident the body’s going to hold up.
“It’s just about what can I learn out of that (injury) situation. It might be learning something new about your recovery or how to deal with this.
“That’s what I’m trying to look at it as: how you respond to it, and what lessons you can get out of it.”
– with AAP
