Malcolm Norman Meninga is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer.
69 Facts About Mal Meninga
2.
Mal Meninga enjoyed a long career in both Australia and England, playing mainly as a goal-kicking centre, but on the wing.
3.
Mal Meninga broke numerous rugby league records during his playing career.
4.
Mal Meninga 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.
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Mal Meninga 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 been named in both Queensland's and Australia's teams of the century.
6.
Mal Meninga is the only player in history to be selected for four Kangaroo Tours.
7.
Mal Meninga toured with the Kangaroos in 1982,1986,1990 and 1994, appearing in every test match against Great Britain and France on all four tours.
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Mal Meninga is the only player to captain two Kangaroo Tours, in 1990 and 1994.
9.
Mal Meninga became coach of Australia in 2016 and led the Kangaroos to win the 2017 World Cup.
10.
On 1 August 2018 Mal Meninga was named the 13th Immortal.
11.
Mal Meninga, whose father is of South Sea Island heritage and mother is Australian, was born in Bundaberg, Queensland.
12.
Mal Meninga attended Maroochydore State High School, graduating with a Junior Certificate in 1975.
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Mal Meninga completed his Senior Certificate at the Queensland Police Academy, citing his love for TV police dramas as a key reason for joining the force, and served as an officer in the Queensland Police Service until 1985.
14.
Mal Meninga was actually a senior constable and 2IC PE instructor under Sergeant Wayne Bennett at the Queensland Police Academy during the early 80s.
15.
Mal Meninga 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.
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Mal Meninga remains the only player to captain two Kangaroo tours, in 1990 and 1994.
17.
I'd watch in awe as Mal Meninga pulverised the opposing defensive line with his bone-crunching runs.
18.
Mal Meninga made his first grade debut in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership at the age of 18 with Souths Magpies.
19.
Mal Meninga was selected to play for Brisbane in the 1979 Amco Cup, kicking a goal in the final which was lost to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
20.
Also, Mal Meninga was first selected to play centre for Queensland in 1979, and the following year helped his state to win rugby league's first ever State of Origin match against New South Wales at Lang Park, kicking seven goals from seven attempts.
21.
Mal Meninga had an unhappy game though, dislocating his elbow in the 28th minute after a crunching blindside tackle from Kiwi winger Dane O'Hara, while at the same time attempting to break a tackle from Kiwi fullback Gary Kemble.
22.
Mal Meninga was the Kangaroos top point scorer on tour, scoring 166 from 10 tries and 68 goals, including a personal haul of 19 points in the first Ashes series test against Great Britain at Boothferry Park in Hull.
23.
Mal Meninga then backed that up with 15 points in the second test at Wigan's Central Park, before adding a further 14 points to his Ashes tally in the third test at Headingley in Leeds.
24.
Mal Meninga continued his good form in 1983, even though Souths missed the BRL Grand Final.
25.
Mal Meninga played in Queensland's second straight Origin series win over NSW, while starring for Australia in the two test series against New Zealand in mid-season.
26.
Mal Meninga was bought by BBC commentator and former Saints forward Ray French while he was in Australia covering the 1984 Great Britain Lions tour.
27.
Mal Meninga didn't manage to serve a second spell at Knowsley Road, for a variety of reasons, not least being a succession of injuries that punctuated his career in Australia.
28.
Mal Meninga joined Souths teammate Gary Belcher at the Canberra Raiders who played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.
29.
Mal Meninga's broken arms saw him play only 17 games for the Raiders in 1987 and 1988.
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Mal Meninga successfully returned to top level representative football in 1989, playing for Queensland in their State of Origin series whitewash of NSW, before being selected to the mid-season tour of New Zealand.
31.
Mal Meninga was the year's top try-scorer and top-point scorer, and was named as Rugby League Week's player of the year.
32.
Mal Meninga's form continued though, captaining Queensland in the 1992 State of Origin series as well as Australia's successful Ashes defence against the touring Great Britain Lions.
33.
Mal Meninga though was forced to miss the first test at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland as he had been suspended for 2 weeks for the use of an elbow to Manly-Warringah's Welsh import centre John Devereux in the Raiders Round 10 match with the Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval.
34.
Fittingly, Mal scored the last try of the match after taking an intercept and outpacing Bulldogs centre Jarrod McCracken to score beside the posts.
35.
Mal Meninga scored a try and kicked 5 goals in his final test for Australia in Australia.
36.
Mal Meninga captained the Raiders to the Grand final for a record fifth time in 1994.
37.
Mal Meninga became the only player selected to four Kangaroo tours and the only player to twice be named tour captain.
38.
Just as Offiah tackled him, Mal Meninga gave a perfectly timed pass to winger Andrew Ettingshausen who scored the first of Australia's seven tries that day.
39.
Australia won 40 and only lost 6 of the tests Mal Meninga played and did not lose a test series during his time in the green and gold.
40.
Mal Meninga played in the centres on 40 occasions for Australia, with one game on the wing, two in the second-row, and three from the bench.
41.
On his four Kangaroo Tours as a player, Mal Meninga holds the distinction in playing in every test for Australia on tour, playing all six tests in both 1982 and 1986, all five in 1990, and all four in 1994.
42.
Mal Meninga was appointed head coach of his old club, the Canberra Raiders in Australia's Super League season in 1997.
43.
Mal Meninga was appointed coach of the Raiders in 1997, succeeding three-time winner Tim Sheens, but achieved only moderate success.
44.
In 2000, Mal Meninga was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league.
45.
In late 2002, Mal Meninga expressed interest in the Queensland State of Origin team coaching job.
46.
Mal Meninga left Canberra and returned to Queensland in 2005, opening several successful businesses, including a fruit and vegetable wholesale business in the Brisbane Markets, and several Strathfield Car Sound outlets.
47.
From 2005 to 2012, Mal Meninga served as coach of the Australian Prime Minister's XIII.
48.
Mal Meninga was succeeded as coach of the PM's XIII by New South Wales coach Laurie Daley.
49.
Mal Meninga attended the 2007 Challenge Cup Final, in which his old club St Helens was playing, at Wembley Stadium as a guest of honour.
50.
On 13 October 2006, Mal Meninga was reappointed as coach of the Maroons for the 2007 State of Origin series and 2008 State of Origin series, both of which Queensland won, taking his record with the Maroons to three wins from three series.
51.
When Mal Meninga was given a new contract after the 2008 series, he was quoted as saying: "I want to win six [State of Origin series] in a row".
52.
In December 2009, Mal Meninga was named coach of the year at the Queensland Sports Awards.
53.
In 2010, Mal Meninga coached Queensland to a fifth straight series win, and is regarded as the greatest and most successful Origin coach in history.
54.
Mal Meninga coached them to their first "clean sweep" since 2000.
55.
In 2011, Mal Meninga achieved his sixth straight series as coach of Queensland honoring a promise he made in 2008.
56.
Mal Meninga was set to face legal action from the NRL's match review panel over his controversial column, but after negotiations with them on 1 August 2011, the matter was resolved.
57.
In 2013, Mal Meninga achieved his eighth consecutive series win with the Queensland State of Origin team.
58.
Mal Meninga's record-breaking winning streak ended with the Blues' win in the 2014 State of Origin series.
59.
On 2 December 2015, Mal Meninga was appointed as the head coach of the Australian national rugby league team, succeeding Tim Sheens.
60.
In late 2017, Mal Meninga coached the Australian team to win the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
61.
Mal Meninga coached Australia in their 2021 Rugby League World Cup final victory over Samoa.
62.
Mal Meninga is regarded as an official spokesperson for the South Sea Islander community.
63.
The main grandstand at Canberra Stadium is named the "Mal Meninga Stand" in his honour.
64.
Mal Meninga was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2003.
65.
In February 2008, Mal Meninga was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.
66.
Mal Meninga went on to be named as one of the centres, along with Reg Gasnier, in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century.
67.
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".
68.
In 2016, Mal Meninga was a recipient of the Queensland Greats Awards.
69.
On 1 August 2018, Mal Meninga was announced as one of The Immortals, along with Norm Provan, Frank Burge, Dave Brown and Dally Messenger.