After the hardest week of his life, a South Sydney Indigenous star stands tall (2024)

Warning: Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people are advised this article contains the name of a deceased Aboriginal person

The Rabbitohs threw their arms around a young Indigenous boy this week, one who has probably had the worst week of his life.

When he was hurting, they left the decision up to him. He said, “I’ll play”. When all the eyes were on him, the cameras trailing him, almost to a man, they mobbed him, just to let him know how important he was to them. By turning up, it was all his mates needed to see to know how committed he was to them.

He put the ball down, looked upwards at the sky, kissed the black bands around the strapping on his wrists, and thought, ‘that’s for you, Mum’.

The young teenage Indigenous boy, Tyrone Munro, scored both his team’s tries just two days after his mother, Kirawhan Fernando, died. His team, already out of finals contention, were clobbered by three-time defending premiers Penrith in a 34-12 result which surprised absolutely no one at BlueBet Stadium on Friday night.

But that wasn’t exactly the point for South Sydney. There were bigger lessons to be learned.

On the other side of the fence, the club’s highest-paid player and proud Indigenous advocate, Latrell Mitchell, sat and watched his team’s miserable season plumb to another low. He’s had a bad week too, but nothing like Munro.

Three days ago, Mitchell fronted the South Sydney board over the white substance photo scandal and walked away with $40,000 in fines from the NRL and his club, who kept his contract intact – just. There’s no suggestion the substance Mitchell was photographed alongside was illegal. Mercifully, South Sydney hope Mitchell has finally learned his lesson because for all the good he does for the game and his people, there hasn’t been much bang for South Sydney’s buck of late.

But his biggest teaching came from a clubmate eight years his junior who showed everyone just how much the cardinal and myrtle means to him. Dare we say it, the type of commitment required to be a full-time professional rugby league player.

That Munro and his team were battered on the night was not really the point for interim coach Ben Hornby.

“We gave him every opportunity not to come to training the other day or play, but that never entered his mind,” Hornby said. “All he’s been focused on is the game and doing his family proud - and there’s no doubt he did that tonight.”

Said captain Cody Walker: “It’s absolutely devastating. I’ve got great admiration and respect for [Munro] going out there and putting the Bunnies jersey on two days after losing his mum and uncle this morning. At 19 years of age to have that head on his young shoulders, we’re so proud to have him at the club, and we love him.”

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has asked questions of his team this week. Have they lost the same insatiable hunger they’ve had for the last three straight years? Can they win it with Nathan Cleary’s shoulder being held together with a couple of elastic bands in September? Can Jess and Noemie Fox hang around for the finals series?

He got a few answers rolling through a team who were never going to trouble them, even sans Nathan, vaulting into second, even if only temporarily with the Roosters and Sharks still to play.

It was a bit loose at times. James Fisher-Harris scored the first try, and even found time to put his own kick in at one stage and try to chase it. Moses Leota, condemned to the bench, almost set up another try with a rifled left-to-right pass on a last play. South Sydney’s Keaon Koloamatangi found himself in the sin-bin late on. Cleary took the outstanding Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards and Mitch Kenny off before full-time. Jack Wighton left too with a calf complaint.

“There were definitely some better signs,” Ivan Cleary said of the Panthers. “It was certainly a step up. There were over 20 penalties tonight and it just takes so long to get anything done. No wonder [two] people started running on the field.”

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The battle of the manufactured No.7s – Jarome Luai and Walker – only had one winner, with the Panthers superstar having a hand in a couple of tries, as his soon-to-be Tigers buddy Sunia Turuva celebrated his recall with a double.

As good as Turuva’s double was, it didn’t bring a tear to the eye like Munro’s.

As he sprinted 85 metres after pouching a second-half intercept from Izack Tago, he kissed the wrist bands again, long before he was near the try-line. Even the Penrith fans could appreciate the poignancy of the moment.

It was one way to respond after one of the hardest weeks of your life.

PENRITH PANTHERS 34 (Sunia Turuva 2, James Fisher-Harris, Luke Garner, Brad Schneider, Isaah Yeo tries; Paul Alamoti 5 goals) defeated SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS 12 (Tyrone Munro 2 tries; Fletcher Myers 2 goals) at BlueBet Stadium. Referee: Peter Gough. Crowd: 20,176.

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