A gruesome picture has shown the true extent of an Australia rugby league star's injury - but the club stalwart has vowed to play in their next match after having surgery.
Cameron Munster helped Melbourne Storm to a dramatic 16-12 extra-time victory in their opening game of the season against Parramatta Eels. The 28-year-old's performance was made the more impressive after he received a gruesome injury, with his bone exposed during a challenge on Eels' skipper Clint Gutherson just 28 minutes into the match.
Fans thought they had seen the last of Munster when the star left the pitch with his bloodied hand, only to remarkably return for the second half.
Despite suffering a compound fracture of his right finger the Storm stalwart - who has made 174 appearances since 2014 - played a key role in his side's second-half fightback releasing Young Tonumaipea to make the score 12-12. His efforts were rewarded as Harry Grant scored the winning try three minutes into extra-time.
“I just tried passing a little bit more. I probably didn’t run the ball as much as I would like to,” Munster told Fox Sports after the win. “It was still sore at times, even with numbing needles in the finger, but I was all right.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said that there was some 'confusion' over the severity of Munster's injury resulting in him being taped up and playing the second half. Bellamy says the star has had the finger operated on and expects him to be out for two weeks in the 'best-case' scenario.
However, Munster has his eyes set on the Storm's match against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Saturday.
Munster said: “That’s the aim. I’ll have to see how much pain I am in. The numbing needles are still doing a pretty good job at the moment. I’ll be interested to see how I wake up, and hopefully it doesn’t get infected. We’ll go from there.
“(I had) two needles, one in there, one in there. It‘s a bit yucky at the moment. I‘ve dislocated this finger already before but not a compound. I was a bit surprised when I saw it come out. I have never seen bone come out before. If I’m only going to be 60 or 70 per cent I’m not going to push it. I’ll make sure I’m 100 per cent before I go back out there again.”
