Liam Martin has admitted he was taken aback by Cameron Munster's claims the pair did not get along, claiming he thought the pair were never on bad terms.
Munster lit a fuse ahead of the grand final between Penrith and Melbourne, when he admitted he and Martin did not get along as Kangaroos teammates in 2022.
The pair first had issues in the 2021 State of Origin series, when Munster was fined for kicking Martin in the stomach while the NSW second-rower was prone on the ground.
Martin has also previously put a target on Munster as the opposing playmaker on his side of the field, and made no secret of his desire to go after him again in the grand final.
But Martin said he had no record of there ever being beef between he and the Storm five-eighth.
"I was quite surprised by that, I thought we were fine," Martin told AAP.
"But if he is feeling like that, it doesn't really matter. It won't change the way I'll go about things on Sunday. I am quite surprised, but it doesn't really matter.
"It won't worry me at all. I won't change my game plan around it, it is what it is I reckon."
Martin will act as Nathan Cleary's bodyguard in Sunday's decider, with former Panther Shawn Blore to run traffic at the injured No.7's shoulder.
But Martin has also made no secret of the fact he intended to try and make Munster's life hell on the Storm's left edge at Accor Stadium.
"I'm going to have to," Martin said.
"He's such a quality player and I love coming up against him in the battles that we have so this will be no different."
It was those comments that sparked Munster's surprising response on Monday.
"It's funny, looking back on it, we probably didn't like each other in Aussie camps although we get along pretty well at the moment," Munster said.
"I'm sure that will be a little bit different on Sunday so I'm looking forward to the battle.
"We've always had a great rivalry and wanted to be competitive and get one over each other. He'll want to take my head off and vice versa.
"He's a quality player, very strong and very aggressive ... I know he's coming so I'm just going to go out there and play the footy that I can play.
"He's tried to get under my skin and it worked a few times so I've got to go out there and not get frazzled."
