Cameron Munster will return for Melbourne Storm against Manly, no clear path back for Ryan Papenhuyzen
Munster hasn't played since leading Queensland to an emotional State of Origin victory and missed a bulk of his club's training this week but has been locked in to tackle the Sea Eagles as he navigates what Storm coach Craig Bellamy called a 'very, very tough situation'.
'He'll play tomorrow night,' Bellamy confirmed on Friday.
'He'll be back for a bit, then he'll go back up with his family again next week.
'It's been obviously a very, very tough situation for him and his family and hopefully we've made it as easy as possible for him as we can.
'It's a tough situation and we just really feel for him and his family at the moment.'
Storm took care of Newcastle on the road last week, without Munster and injured fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen, who will also miss the Manly clash with a calf injury, to record a sixth straight win.
Bellamy, as ever, wasn't interested in his team's win streak, or looking back, focusing instead on the Sea Eagles and the challenge of trying to contain Manly star Tom Trbojevic, who has been named in the centres again.
Manly coach Anthony Seibold conceded his star's best position was at fullback but suggested Trbojevic provided a different threat on an edge, and it's one Bellamy was quick to recognise.
'It's a little bit hard to plan for Tommy at the moment,' Bellamy said.
'He's sometimes in the centres, sometimes he's in the centres on the other side (of the field).
'He does a little bit of roaming, so we just need to be on guard and obviously he's a very, very talented player.
'He doesn't stay in the one place too often, so we just need to be aware of where he is.'
Storm welcomes back star winger Xavier Coates after he also missed the win over the Knights, but Bellamy conceded he didn't know when, on the way to the finals, he'd get Papenhuyzen back.
'He was only going to miss a week when he first had it, so this is three or four now, so I'm not quite sure when he'll be back,' he said.
'The physios are just sort of saying he's taken longer than what they thought. That's the situation, so we just need to get on with the team that we've picked tomorrow night.'
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