Footy star reveals how he started feuding with grand final opponent who will want to ‘take my head off’ in the year’s biggest game

Even when they were playing for the same team, which just happened to be Australia, Cameron Munster says he and Penrith rival Liam Martin ‘didn’t like each other’ and he expects the Panthers hard man will want to want to ‘take my head off’ in Sunday’s NRL grand final.

The origin of the angst could stem from a 2021 incident in which Munster, playing for Queensland, was charged with kicking Martin, who enters ferocious mode when he puts on a NSW Blues jersey, in 2021.

Munster only copped a fine, and in the aftermath Martin conceded to being a ‘bit annoying’ on the field when the combatants come up against each other and then happily declared he’d target the Storm playmaker’s injured ribs in an Origin showdown in 2023 as part of a plan to get inside his head.

Before last week’s preliminary final showdown with the Roosters, Munster said he thought he’d be targeted by outgoing enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and ahead of Sunday’s grand final, the cheeky Melbourne star said he had no doubt Martin would want to ‘take my head off’.

‘Liam is Liam. It’s funny looking back on it, we probably didn’t like each other in Aussie camps,’ Munster said.

‘We get along pretty well at the moment, but I’m sure it would be a little bit different on Sunday. I’m looking forward to the battle.

‘We’ve always had a great rivalry; me and Liam always wanted to be competitive and get over each other, and (it’s) going to be no different on Sunday. He’ll want to take my head off and vice versa.’

Munster (pictured) is expecting the NSW hardman to ‘take his head off’ in this year’s Grand Final

Munster added that he and Martin (pictured) ‘get a long pretty well’ but anticipates it will be ‘a little different on Sunday’

Munster conceded that Martin had ‘got under my skin’ a few times’ in previous encounters, and he was mindful of not falling victim in the biggest game of the season.

‘It’s just niggles in the game? That is what it is. That’s footy for me,’ he sad.

‘He was just trying to get under my skin, and it worked a fair bit a few times.

‘I’ve gotta go out there and not get frazzled and just take over.’

Despite the expected physicality Munster knows is coming his way, he said he couldn’t help but admire Martin, a triple-premiership player with the Panthers and now one of the first players picked for NSW.

Despite the expected physicality Munster (right) knows is coming his way, he said he couldn’t help but admire Martin (left), a triple-premiership player

‘He’s a quality player and very strong and very aggressive, and I just like the way he goes about his business,’ Munster said.

‘I’m not gonna fuel the fire. It’s it is what it is. I know he’s coming, so I’m just gonna go out there and play the footy I know I can.’