A surprising reshuffle in positions turned out to be a successful strategy for the Storm, largely because Cameron Munster sought a change in his role.
On Tuesday, Storm coach Craig Bellamy announced a familiar starting lineup, planning for Nick Meaney to wear the No. 1 jersey while Munster paired with Tyran Wishart in the halves.
However, by Thursday evening, a different arrangement emerged as Munster returned to his original position of fullback to face the Panthers.
This shift allowed Meaney to move back to the centres, Jonah Pezet to start at five-eighth, and Joe Chan to transition to the bench.
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Initially, the rationale behind the changes was unclear, but Billy Slater from Nine later disclosed that Munster expressed a desire to start as fullback against Penrith.
After the match, Munster openly discussed the transition, mentioning he was eager to find an opportunity to regain his confidence on the field.
"I felt like it freed me up a little bit," Munster shared with Nine.
"Right now, I just need to get back to playing with confidence."
He noted, "I feel like I can roam on both sides. Sometimes I limit myself on the left and don’t explore the right side of the field. I’m just trying to play fullback a bit more."
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Munster acknowledged that with Ryan Papenhuyzen's impending return, he would need to adopt a more dynamic style of play. "But for me as fullback, I felt I could move left and right and control the game."
He added, "It worked a little bit tonight, but I know I can improve."
The Queensland Maroons captain also pointed out that the team lacked the same depth on the edges as they had in the halves to cover for their injured players.
"I felt we didn’t need to shift too many players out of position," he explained.
"We had Nick Meaney, who has been performing well at fullback, but we didn’t have enough outside backs or centers to fill the gaps."
"We have great depth in the halves, so it was easy for me to return there and be more of a running threat, which is my strength. Pezet was ready to step in, so we placed him at halfback and Wishart at five-eighth."
Munster delivered an impressive performance at the back, racking up 171 run meters over 81 minutes.
The victory wasn’t straightforward, with Harry Grant securing the winning points in the 81st minute, finalizing the score at 22-18.
Munster emphasised that the Storm's performance at CommBank Stadium fell short of their true potential.