Nearly two years ago, the NRL chief executive, Todd Greenberg, addressed the media to announce that the role of Australian coach would be a dedicated, stand-alone position. No longer would the Kangaroos coach juggle club or state commitments with the job of managing the national team.
“We were looking for a successful coach,” Greenberg said. “One who would not only command the respect of the best players in this country, but would also command the respect of the whole game — all of its stakeholders, from fans to players all across the country who are still only dreaming of one day becoming a Kangaroos player.
“We were looking for an ambassador, someone whose reputation as a player and a coach is second to none. Someone who saw this role as a privilege and something to aspire to. In Mal Meninga, we have found that figure within the game.”
Meninga took over an Australian side that had been beaten by New Zealand in three consecutive Test matches, and had lost its No 1 world ranking. Since then, the Kangaroos have not lost a game and are heavy favourites to win the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
At the time of his appointment, Meninga had some of the best coaching credentials in rugby league, having famously coached Queensland to eight consecutive State of Origin series victories between 2006 and 2013. Yet his record as a club coach was less than impressive and, in 2011, reports suggested that the brains behind the Maroons’ success actually belonged to Meninga’s assistant coaches. Meninga subsequently let fly at “the faceless men of influence” and the “NSW powerbrokers” in his infamous “rats and filth” column.
He was not the first Queenslander, nor will he be the last, to let fly at the New South Wales establishment. Yet since he took over as coach of the Kangaroos, Meninga has played a diplomatic role, stating that he wants to bring pride back to the green and gold jersey.
“The thing that sticks out to me is the players’ respect for what Mal has achieved in the game,” said Gene Miles, a former teammate of Meninga’s and the chairman of Queensland Former Origin Greats. “He’s no super coach – he’s had great people around him … but Mal is a really good player manager. People respect him; as soon as you come into camp, the respect is there.
“Every time you see the Australian squad interviewed now, it’s all about playing for that green and gold jersey. They’re happy to put aside the maroon jersey and the sky blue jersey. That’s the influence of Mal in the short space of time that he’s been there.”
Meninga’s 24-man squad for the upcoming World Cup is effectively a half-and-half split between Queenslanders and New South Welshmen. The Queensland captain, Cameron Smith, is once again the Australian captain. The captain of NSW, Boyd Cordner, is vice-captain.
“We’ve closed the door on all that,” said Meninga when asked about state rivalries. “If you want to play in the green and gold jersey and be part of our environment you’ve got to put those differences aside.”
The late defection of Andrew Fifita to Tonga could be seen as a blow to his mission of putting pride back into the Kangaroos jersey. Yet Meninga, who is of South Sea Islander background, said he could understand Fifita’s desire to represent his heritage nation.
“My view is you’ve got to be connected with your heart,” he said. “You’ve got to be emotionally engaged with the jersey you put on, whether it be club or state or country.
“I admire the fact that he’s emotionally connected to the Tongans. I’d prefer to have someone that’s connected to the green and gold jersey. That’s why I’ve given it full blessing and hopefully he plays well for his ancestral country.”
It is a position that has won the respect of many within the rugby league fraternity. Tas Baitieri, a development officer for the Rugby League International Federation, said Meninga’s response to the Fifita affair set “an exceptional example”.
“Don’t forget, Mal Meninga’s family is of a similar background, so had he had the opportunity when he was younger to do the same I’m sure he would have done it out of sheer respect for his parents and background and upbringing,” Baitieri said.
Baitieri has been working behind the scenes for decades to promote the international game, and in Meninga sees a kindred spirit. Both men are talking up the potential of the “International 40/40” concept — which involves three teams playing one 40-minute half each — to develop rugby league in new markets.
“We’ve obviously got huge support around the Pacific [nations], so I’d like to see that forge ahead in various forms,” Meninga said.
“We’d like to help the European game with the English and the French competitions. We want to help out as much as we can by going back to scheduling Kangaroos tours and Great Britain Lions tours back over here. The next World Cup is over in England, so we just keep on promoting the game as best we possibly can.”
It is fitting that Meninga is looking to play a lead role in the next evolution of rugby league. As a player he was at the centre of four major changes that have defined the game in the modern era: State of Origin, the power game, expansion and money.
Early in his career he was big enough to shift from his position as centre to the forward pack, and before the Polynesian influx in the 1990s and 2000s he was an early exponent of the power game that now characterises rugby league.
“From my era, why he’s such an icon in the game is when he went over to play [club football] in England,” Miles said. “He just killed it over there. They couldn’t handle him — he was too big, too strong, too fast. That’s where his reputation started. Worldwide he was known as this big monster playing in the centres, and no one could dominate him.”
And from his starring role in the first State of Origin game in 1980, when he toe-punted seven out of seven conversions to help the Maroons beat NSW on the night of his 20th birthday; to captaining expansion side Canberra Raiders to its first premiership in 1989; to his support for Rupert Murdoch’s Super League competition in the mid-1990s, Meninga has been at the coalface of Australian rugby league’s transition from a working-class, suburban game to a multimillion-dollar national industry.
Baitieri believes the modernisation and professionalisation of the Australian game in the 90s left most of the other nations behind. Yet with the flexible eligibility rules and more support for emerging and minnow nations, he and many others are hoping this World Cup could be a turning point for international rugby league. Miles believes it will be “without doubt” the best World Cup yet.
If Australia are successful, Meninga will have won almost everything there is to win as both a player and a coach. Already he has been enshrined in bronze outside the Canberra Raiders’ home ground and at Queensland’s Lang Park. One of his former teammates, Greg Dowling, believes the ultimate accolade — rugby league Immortality — awaits.
“He’s done wonders,” said Dowling. “I played a lot of football against Mal, with Mal, and he should have been an Immortal. I don’t know why he isn’t. He deserves it — he’s a great ambassador for the game.”
