While Craig Bellamy lauded the professional and personal development of his star Melbourne playmaker, across town Kevin Walters did his best to douse Brisbane's pursuit of him.
Cameron Munster was the hot topic as both NRL coaches prepared for Friday's clash at Suncorp Stadium, a venue were the Storm have incredibly remained unbeaten against the Broncos since 2009.
Bellamy's men have won the last 11 head-to-head battles too, by an average of 22 points.
Walters, who can rubber stamp a finals return for Brisbane with victory, was keen to talk up the significance of the clash as his side eyes a return to finals after two years on the outer.
Chatter circled back to Munster though, who has blitzed it for the Storm at fullback after dominating in the State of Origin arena for Queensland earlier this season in an emphatic response to a turbulent off-season.
Unwilling to accept a contract extension from the Storm, Munster will test the open market and could be wooed north to Brisbane or newcomers the Dolphins for the 2024 season.
"Every club would be (interested) I reckon," Walters deflected, insisting the club hadn't met to discuss putting an offer to the 27-year-old.
"There's two or three of those guys in that category (as the best players in the NRL); he's had a great Origin and backed it up in the last couple of weeks.
"As a player and a coach you want to go against these guys and see what kind of plans we can come up with to limit them."
Bellamy hopes to grab a quiet moment with his star man in the next week, saying it had been "probably six weeks" since the pair had last discussed his future.
But the coach is hopeful they can convince Munster to stay, impressed by his response since the off-season white powder drama almost cost him his contract.
"There's a lot of noise, especially at the moment," he told reporters.
"Hopefully I might be able to have a chat to him in the next couple of days or whatever.
"We'll go all out for what we can do to keep him here."
He said Munster's drinking ban after a rehabilitation stint had been a critical step in the process.
"A couple of times it (his drinking) got out of hand; I'm really proud of how he's changed his life around," he said.
"The change for his footy was really important, but even more important for his personal life.
"He's got a wonderful partner in Bianca and a little boy Jackson, eight months old. He didn't want to take a chance of losing that."
