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Manchester: Rugby league’s most clutch player has backed Nathan Cleary to deliver his best game of the World Cup in the final against Samoa on Sunday AEDT.
Kangaroos five-eighth Cameron Munster lives for the big games, but his halves partner is still developing his ability to consistently deliver on the biggest stage.
Cleary is yet to stamp his mark on this World Cup and there were calls for veteran Daly Cherry-Evans to replace him in the final.
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But coach Mal Meninga stuck solid with the Panthers playmaker, and Munster said the criticism of Cleary has been overblown.
“I think he’s been pretty solid, I know he’s got a lot of high expectations on himself and we all do,” Munster said.
“But when you’ve got the best of the best playing alongside you, at times blokes are going to outshine you and other time you’re going to have an okay game.
“When you look at the stats, he’s had a consistent three weeks. At Penrith he’s the heart and soul of that team in terms of structure and organisation, so when he comes to big teams like us or even Origin, he obviously won’t shine as much as he’d like to.
“But that’s footy when you’re playing for Australia, there’s so many good players outside you and inside you, anything can happen.”
Munster said Cleary, who turned 25 this week, has grown in confidence throughout the tournament.
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“He’s definitely come out of his shell, he’s talking a bit more in meetings,” Munster said.
“At the start he was sitting back a little bit and letting the other guys have a chat but now he’s starting to stamp his authority on the team a bit more and have his say and a lot of the boys are listening to him.
“He’s done a lot in the game for such a young age and everyone is listening to him.”
Munster has delivered standout performances in grand finals and Origin deciders in recent years.
The 28-year-old revealed he learned how to handle big games from Kangaroos legends Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk.
“It’s easy when you’ve got blokes around you who are really good, especially playing for Australia when you’ve got the best of the best playing alongside you,” he said.
“Big games… listening to Billy and Cam and Cooper, the bigger the game the simpler the game plan for me – run the ball and make my tackles.
“If I can do that for the team on Saturday it will go a long way to winning.”
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