Cameron Munster handed NRL return date after Cameron Smith revelation left fans in limbo

Cameron Munster could be set to return as soon as round five for the Melbourne Storm after the five-eighth returned to running in training. Munster has endured a brutal 2-24 campaign having re-injured his groin after slipping in the shower before the start of the NRL season.

This has left the Maroons and Kangaroos five-eighth unable to consistently train. Only last week, Cameron Smith had a hot mic moment on his SEN show Captain's Run, telling co-host Denan Kemp that the Storm still have no idea when he is going to be right to play again.

“It’s a bit concerning the Munster thing, hey,” Smith said on the podcast. “They have no idea, they actually have no idea when he is going to be okay. He can hardly run."

Host Kemp jumped in and asked whether it could be a few more weeks, Smith replied: “He’s not even f***ing running yet. The last I heard was before last week’s game, they (were) just like mate it is a day by day thing.”

However, Storm general manager of football Frank Ponissi Storm provided a better update for the five-eighth with Munster training on Wednesday. "Munster is now returning to full training this week, which is great news,” he said as the Storm have a week off with the bye ahead.

“If he can train for the rest of this week and early next week given it’s a Thursday night game, then he too will be back for the Broncos game which would be a huge boost for the team.” The Storm have two wins from three games, but suffered their first defeat without the likes of Munster and Jarome Hughes last week.

Ryan Papenhuyzen has been leading the team in the absence of Munster with the fullback returning to his best across the opening three rounds of the season. The Storm could be set to welcome back enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona after he managed 48 minutes for the Bears in reserve grade last week.

Cameron Munster battling for fitness after groin injury

NRL legend Andrew Johns suffered a similar injury to Munster's groin injury during his playing career and admitted the Melbourne Storm five-eighth needs to get it right before playing. "It's gonna be so tough for him. He's at that age. He's 30," Johns said on Wide World of Sports' Immortal Behaviour. 

"And Munster being Munster, I was in the sheds (last week) and I was talking to him about it and he was skylarking a bit. I said, 'mate, this will finish you. If you don't get this right, this will finish you'. I think he realises how serious it is because it is. It can just come and go for no reason."

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Greg Alexander also weighed-in and claimed he was told Munster's groin issue is more complex than initially thought. "I had heard that it was a bit odd, a bit strange," Alexander said on Fox League's NRL broadcast.

"It wasn’t your regulation groin injury. Cameron Smith is just confirming that, that they’re trying to find out what the problem is. When you’re dealing with groins, it could be a whole lot of issues. It could be hips, it could be lower back, it could be hamstrings, it could be a lot of related things that can then be causing problems with the groin."