Mal Meninga
Malcolm Norman Meninga AM (/məˈnɪŋɡə/; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team[7] and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the game's history. He enjoyed a long career in both Australia and England, playing mainly as a goal-kicking centre. After retiring, Meninga has enjoyed success as a coach, and is currently the head coach of Australia.[7]
Personal information
Malcolm Norman Meninga
Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia
184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
107 kg (16 st 12 lb)
Meninga broke numerous rugby league records during his playing career. He retired with the most appearances in the history of the Australian national team, and became the top-point scorer ever in State of Origin football. He has since been honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia, has been inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame and has also been named in both Queensland's and Australia's teams of the century.
Meninga is the only player in history to be selected for four Kangaroo Tours. He toured with the Kangaroos in 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994, appearing in every test match against Great Britain and France on all four tours. He is also the only player to captain two Kangaroo Tours, in 1990 and 1994. Additionally he is one of five players, along with Wally Lewis, Peter Sterling, Brett Kenny and Gene Miles, who were members of the undefeated 1982 and 1986 tours, known as 'the Invincibles' and 'the Unbeatables' respectively. .
As a coach, he began with the Canberra Raiders, before coaching Queensland to nine State of Origin titles between 2006 and 2015. He became coach of Australia in 2016 and led the Kangaroos to win the 2017 World Cup and the 2021 World Cup.
On 1 August 2018 Meninga was named the 13th Immortal.
Early life[edit]
Meninga, whose father is of South Sea Island heritage and mother is Australian, was born in Bundaberg, Queensland.[8][9] His father, Norman Meninga, also played rugby league.[10] He has a brother, Geoffrey Meninga.[11]
Meninga attended Maroochydore State High School,[12] graduating with a Junior Certificate in 1975. He completed his Senior Certificate at the Queensland Police Academy, citing his love for TV police dramas as a key reason for joining the force,[10] and served as an officer in the Queensland Police Service until 1985. It was during his time in the police force that Meninga met Wayne Bennett, who was serving as a constable at the time and would become one of Meninga's key mentors.[10] Mal was actually a senior constable and 2IC PE instructor under Sergeant Wayne Bennett at the Queensland Police Academy during the early 80s.
Political career[edit]
Meninga briefly campaigned as an Independent for the seat of Molonglo[38] in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly during the Territory's 2001 general election, informally aligned with the socially conservative, pro-life grouping of Paul Osborne, MLA for Brindabella.[39][40] On Monday 24 September 2001, after being asked why he was standing, he pulled out mid-sentence, stating, "And the thing about that is, I guess, I was a public figure and I was put on the podium where I was just a person out there ... I'm buggered, I'm sorry, I have to resign."[41] He later explained in 2017 that in the six weeks of preparation he had done leading up to the interview, he had never once been asked "why should people vote for you?".[42]
Subsequently, this incident led to the satirical Chaser team instituting the 'Mal Award' for their election television shows, presented to politicians "for the greatest act of political suicide during an election campaign".[43] In an episode, which aired on 28 November 2007, Meninga satirized himself when he was brought in to present the award but "gave up" mid-speech. Additionally, his career has been described as the 'shortest political career on record' with less than a minute between the beginning of the interview and his 'resignation'. Something being 'shorter than Mal Meninga's political career' is sometimes used as an expression in Australian English for a very short thing, especially in comparison to other political careers.[44][45][46] A 'Mal Meninga moment' is another phrase stemming from this event, referring to gaffes where a speaker is unable to answer an obvious question.[47]
Honours[edit]
Meninga is regarded as an official spokesperson for the South Sea Islander community.[48]
The main grandstand at Canberra Stadium is named the "Mal Meninga Stand" in his honour. The Canberra Raiders' player of the year receives the Mal Meninga Medal in his honour since 2008 and a statue of him has been placed behind the Mal Meninga grandstand next to the one of Laurie Daley.[49]
He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2003.[50][51]
In February 2008, Meninga was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.[52][53] Meninga went on to be named as one of the centres, along with Reg Gasnier, in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panels' majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players.[54][55]
In June 2008, he was chosen in the Queensland Rugby League's Team of the Century at centre.[56]
In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, Mal Meninga was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for his role as a "sports legend".[57]
In 2016, Meninga was a recipient of the Queensland Greats Awards.[58]
On 1 August 2018, Meninga was announced as one of The Immortals, along with Norm Provan, Frank Burge, Dave Brown and Dally Messenger.[59]