MAL MENINGA

'Malcolm Norman Meninga AM' (born 8 July, 1960 in Bundaberg, Queensland) is an Australian rugby league identity. As a player he was a legendary centre. He has made the most appearances and scored the most points of any player in the green and gold jersey and has been inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame. Meninga has previously coached the Canberra Raiders and is now the current coach of the Queensland State of Origin team.

Contents

Early life

Playing career

BRL

England

NSWRL

Coaching career

Political career

References

External links

Early life

Born in Bundaberg, Queensland, Meninga is an Australian South Sea Islander, a descendant of plantation workers recruited or blackbirded to work in the Queensland sugar industry in the late 19th century. He is an official spokesperson for the South Sea Islander community.^[1]

Playing career

BRL

Meninga made his Brisbane Rugby League premiership first grade debut at the age of 18 with Souths Magpies. He first played for his state in 1979, and the following year helped Queensland to a win in the first ever Rugby League State of Origin match against New South Wales, converting seven goals from seven attempts (Meninga was one of the last players to use the kicking style of punting the end of the football with the toe of the boot). In 1981 he enjoyed premiership success with the Magpies.

England

Mal Meninga, the 16 stone Australian centre three-quarter became a Saint for the 1984/85 campaign. St Helens had paid around £30,000 for his services to play in the Australian off-season. ^[2]
Mal Meninga didn't manage to serve a second spell at Knowsley Road, for a variety of reasons, not least a succession of injuries, that also punctuated his career for Canberra Raiders and Australia. Yet he remains a legendary figure in international Rugby League, forever remembered for his formidable power, pace and handling ability.

NSWRL

In 1986, Meninga joined the Canberra Raiders where he was to play all of his New South Wales Rugby League premiership games, after many seasons and two (1981, 1985) premierships with Souths Magpies in the Brisbane Premiership. He led Canberra to their first premiership in 1989 after overcoming the highly fancied Balmain Tigers in the Grand Final. The following year Meninga led the Raiders to another grand final victory against the Penrith Panthers. He was also 1990's top try-scorer and top-point scorer, and was named as ''Rugby League Week's'' player of the year.
Big Mal captained Australia for 23 Test matches between 1990 and 1994, and captained the Queensland State of Origin team for three years from 1992 to 1994. He remains the only player to captain a Kangaroo Tour on two occasions, in 1990 and 1994.
Meninga played his last game for the Canberra Raiders in the 1994 Grand Final where he led his team to victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs and to their third premiership in six years, scoring the last try of the match. On December 4, 1994 at Béziers, France, he captained Australia to a 74-0 victory over the French, scoring the final try of the game, and of his career.
The main grandstand at Bruce Stadium in Canberra is named the Mal Meninga stand in his honour.

Coaching career

Meninga was appointed coach of the Raiders in 1997, succeeding three time winner Tim Sheens, but achieved only moderate success. In 2000 Meninga was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. The following year he received the Centenary Medal "for service as a role model and inspiration as a rugby league player of the highest standard". Matthew Elliott replaced Meninga as the Raiders coach in 2002.
Meninga left Canberra and returned to Queensland in 2005 opening several successful business' including a fruit and vegetable wholesale business in the Brisbane Markets, and several Strathfield Car Sound outlets. In late 2005, he was announced as the new Queensland State of Origin coach, replacing Michael Hagan. He made a successful debut as the Maroons coach in the 2006 Rugby League State of Origin series, guiding Queensland to a 2-1 series victory, its first outright series victory since 2001.
Also in 2006, Meninga coached the Prime Minister's XIII side to victory over the Papua New Guinea Kumuls.
On October 13, 2006 he was reappointed as coach of the Maroons for the 2007 State of Origin series & 2008 State of Origin series.^[3]
Mal Meninga will attend the 2007 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium as a guest of honour. ^[4]

Political career

Meninga gained some unwanted notoriety in 2001, when an attempted political career lasted a mere 28 seconds. Becoming fazed in his first radio interview, he resigned on-air shortly after the broadcast commenced
^[5]. This incident led to the satirical Chaser team instituting the 'Mal Award' for their ''Election Chaser'' & ''The Chaser Decides'' television shows; presented to politicians "for the greatest act of political suicide during an election campaign".^[6]

References

1. Islanders' sporting prowess
2. Meninga Saints Heritage Society
3. Meninga stays with the Maroons
4. Big Mal welcomes the squad
5.
Meninga sidesteps politics
6.
Mal Award

External links

★ Mal Meninga at stateoforigin.com.au

★ Mal Meninga at eraofthebiff.com

★ Mal Meninga Biography

★ Saints Heritage Society profile