Queensland captain Cameron Munster dropped an F-bomb after his side’s emotional game two victory to keep the State of Origin series alive.

Leading his team out as skipper for the first time, Munster delivered an inspired performance and was awarded Man of the Match honours as the Maroons forced a decider.

The five-eighth moved into the role after Billy Slater’s decision to axe Daly Cherry-Evans, which caused plenty of backlash and drama in the build-up, but Munster was more than up to the task and led them to a 26-24 triumph.

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With the amount of pressure and scrutiny that had surrounded his former Melbourne Storm teammate turned Origin coach, the emotions were running high when the new leader spoke to Nine’s Sam Thaiday immediately after full time.

“With all the pressure and criticism that Billy Slater has been getting, we’re just glad we played for him tonight,” Munster said.

“He deserves everything, he loves Queensland and he loves this group.

“There’s been a lot of speculation in the media, we needed to turn up for our coach tonight and we f—–g did.”

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Slater was embroiled in a war of words with Aaron Woods during the lead-up to the must-win game in Perth, which took a turn that resulted in him offering an apology to Paul Green’s family for referencing his tragic death three years ago at a press conference.

When asked further about his defence of Slater in the post-game press conference and whether he needed to address it with the rest of the playing group, Munster gave an impassioned response and explained why it meant so much to him.

“I didn’t have to – the boys would have seen it on their phones or media, when someone is having a jab at someone from your own backyard, you stand up and want to get up and fight and we needed to do that tonight,” he said.

“When you’ve got jabs or blokes in the media having a go at your coach – he’s our coach and he’s done everything he can and we didn’t perform in game one. He got a lot of slack for it and a lot of stuff in the media and he didn’t deserve it.

“I played with Bill, he’s a champion player and a champion bloke. I’ve had a great relationship with him and still do and we’re really close mates.

“When you have someone jabbing at him like that, it really hurts me personally. I never tell him that, but I guess I’m telling him now and I love him and I want to do the best thing for Queensland and the best thing for him.

“He’s not doing this for himself, he’s doing this for Queensland.”

Slater – sitting right beside Munster – was taken aback by the response.

“That’s the nicest thing he’s ever said to me,” the Maroons coach said.

“I know the game, I’m in the game and I understand it. Sometimes things get pushed to the boundary, but it hasn’t influenced how I look at myself and who I am as a person.

“I’m very comfortable with who I am, I know who I am.” 

While the story of the 48 hours leading into kick off was about Slater and Woods, then Green and his family, by the time the final siren went on Wednesday, all eyes were on Munster as he finished with a try, 131 run metres and 21 tackles in a quality display.

Maroons icon Darren Lockyer heaped praise on the 30-year-old during the post-game panel on Nine, claiming the leadership role took him to a new level.

“He got himself involved and I think that was the key to unlocking Munster,” he said.

“Just getting him involved, it creates that unpredictability about the attack. When you’re given the leadership, without a doubt it makes you special.

“Obviously you’re the one leading the team, you lead with your actions and you want to get involved and you want to inspire the team around you.

“I thought he was outstanding.”

Legendary Queensland captain Cameron Smith was pleased to see Munster overcome a “dicey” start to lead his team towards an incredible victory at Optus Stadium.

“It was a big occasion for Cam Munster, given the captaincy by Billy Slater, his first time in charge of the mighty Maroons and I thought he was wonderful,” he said.

“He had a couple of dicey touches early, first kick was a seven-tackle set for the Blues.

“I just thought he played with great control. When he needed to up the tempo, he upped the tempo. He ran a lovely line there for Harry Grant – little dart out to the right hand side for a try tonight and his involvement was huge.

“There’s times where Cam Munster can sort of drift in and out of a game, but tonight he was everywhere. He finished with 17 runs, 130m and his kicking was was outstanding.

“That’s a great captain’s knock.”

Queensland will now look to win back the Origin shield in game three when they travel to Sydney’s Accor Stadium on July 9.