Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach 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 . After retiring, Meninga has enjoyed success as a coach, and is a former head coach of the Australian national team was born in Bundaberg, Queensland. His father, Norman Meninga, also played rugby league. He has a brother, Geoffrey Meninga.
As detailed on Who Do You Think You Are? in 2016, Meninga's great-grandfather Edward Meninga was from Tanna, Vanuatu. Meninga has often been misidentified as an Aboriginal Australian.
Meninga attended Maroochydore State High School, 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, and captained the Queensland State of Origin team for three years from 1992 to 1994. He remains the only player to captain two Kangaroo tours, in 1990 and 1994.
I'd watch in awe as Mal pulverised the opposing defensive line with his bone-crunching runs. From the safety of my spot six or seven metres away from the action, I felt grateful that I didn't have to tackle him because his giant thighs were lethal weapons.
:Bill Harrigan
Brisbane
thumb|right|Mal Meninga's statue at [[Lang Park]]
Meninga made his first grade début in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership at the age of 18 with Southern Suburbs. He was selected to play for Brisbane in the 1979 Amco Cup, kicking a goal in their 5–22 final loss to Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Meninga also made his first appearance at centre for Queensland in 1979, and the following year helped his state to win the first interstate match under State of Origin selection rules against New South Wales at Lang Park, kicking seven goals from seven attempts. Meninga was one of the last players to use the toe-poke kicking style rather than the more accurate around-the-corner style that was starting to take hold. That Origin game was on 8 July 1980, Meninga's 20th birthday. Later that year, he played for Souths in the BRL grand final, scoring a try and kicking 3 goals as the Magpies went down to Northern Suburbs 17–15. Meninga finished the 1980 season as the BRL's top points scorer, with 245 points. A year later however Meninga reached the 1981 Brisbane Rugby League season grand final with Souths, who defeated the Redcliffe Dolphins 13–9.
In 1982, he was named man-of-the-match in Game 1 of 1982 State of Origin series against New South Wales at Lang Park, and was later selected to make his test début for Australia in a test against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground, being the 540th player selected for Australia. 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. He soon recovered and played in the centres for Souths in their 17–3 loss to the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the BRL Grand Final at Lang Park.
Post season he toured Europe with the undefeated 1982 Kangaroos, playing in all six tests on tour against Papua New Guinea, Great Britain and France. Meninga was the Kangaroos top point scorer on tour, scoring 166 from 10 tries (worth 3 points) and 68 goals, including a personal haul of 19 points (1 try, 8 goals) in the first Ashes series test against Great Britain at Boothferry Park in Hull. He then backed that up with 15 points (1 try, 6 goals) in the second test at Wigan's Central Park, before adding a further 14 points (7 goals) to his Ashes tally in the third test at Headingley in Leeds. The 1982 Kangaroos, the first touring team to go through Great Britain and France undefeated, earned the Frank Stanton coached team the nickname "The Invincibles".
Meninga continued his good form in 1983, even though Souths missed the BRL Grand Final. He played in Queensland's second straight Origin series win over NSW, while also starring for Australia in the two test series against New Zealand in mid-season.
In 1984, Meninga played a major role in an Oceania team's 54–4 victory over an Anglo-French selection in an exhibition match Paris, before returning to Brisbane after the match to continue playing for Souths. After again playing a leading role for Queensland in their third straight Origin series win over NSW, Meninga missed the first Ashes test against the touring Great Britain side, but was recalled to the team for the second and third tests of the series which Australia again won 3–0. Meninga was the BRL's top tryscorer and points scorer in the 1984 season, with 18 tries and 154 points.
Meninga continued his good form for Souths in 1985, playing in their 10–8 Grand Final win over Wynnum-Manly. 1985 also saw NSW win the Origin series for the first time, though Mal was selected for the mid-season Kangaroo Tour of New Zealand. Australia won the test series 2–1 against the Kiwis with Meninga in the centres for each test, but on a tour that had seen the NSW vs Qld rivalry come into play in an Australian team, New Zealand won the dead rubber 3rd test at Carlaw Park in Auckland 18–0.
St Helens
After his displays on the 1982 Kangaroo tour, Meninga was in high demand with English club sides. For the 1984–85 Rugby Football League season he signed to play for St. Helens, who had paid around £30,000 for his services to play in the Australian off-season and he helped the club to victory in the Premiership. He was bought by BBC commentator and former Saints forward Ray French while he was in Australia covering the 1984 Great Britain Lions tour.
St Helens' rivals Wigan were also after him and had papers ready for him to sign. French had accidentally left the St Helens contract in his hotel room so asked Wigan chairman Maurice Lindsay if he could borrow his; unbelievably, the normally astute Lindsay agreed and handed over the papers. French crossed out any reference to Wigan and changed it to "St Helens" instead, stealing the star from under their noses. Mal Meninga played at and scored 2-tries in St. Helens 28–16 victory over Wigan in the 1984 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1984–85 season at Central Park, Wigan on Sunday 28 October 1984. On 11 May 1985 Meninga added further silverware, scoring two memorable long-range tries as St Helens defeated Hull Kingston Rovers 36–16 in the Premiership Final. Meninga didn't manage to serve a second spell at Knowsley Road, for a variety of reasons, not least being a succession of injuries (three broken arms suffered in 1987 and 1988 respectively) that also punctuated his career in Australia. Yet he remains a legendary figure in international rugby league, and his season at St Helens has been described as the most significant of any overseas import in Britain.
Canberra
thumb|right|Mal Meninga's statue at Canberra Stadium
In 1986, Meninga and teammate Gary Belcher left Southern Suburbs to play for the Canberra Raiders in the New South Wales Rugby League. Souths coach Wayne Bennett would join them at the club in 1987 as co-coach alongside Australian national coach Don Furner. Despite suffering a broken arm in a sickening collision with the goal posts in the Raider's Round 10 match with Manly-Warringah at the Raiders then home ground Seiffert Oval and subsequently missing 10 weeks (including Queensland's successful 1987 State of Origin series and the one-off test loss against New Zealand), Meninga returned to play in Canberra's 18–8 loss to Manly in that year's Grand Final at the SCG, the last ever Grand Final to be held at the ground. On an unseasonably warm day, Meninga's lack of match fitness since his return told (he had only played 60 minutes of the Preliminary final win over Eastern Suburbs the week before) and he was finally replaced by Raiders reserve back Kevin Walters midway through the second half. He scored the Raiders first points in their maiden Grand Final appearance with a penalty goal early in the second half to reduce the deficit to 6–2 after eventual Clive Churchill Medal winner Cliff Lyons had scored for the Sea Eagles before half time allowing them to take a 6–0 lead into the break.
A second broken arm before the start of the 1988 NSWRL season saw Meninga missing until Round 15. After just 4 games back for the Raiders, Meninga played for Australia in their record 70–8 win over Papua New Guinea at Wagga Wagga in country NSW, scoring two tries. Unfortunately for Meninga, after one more game for Canberra he then broke his arm for a third time in Australia's 22–10 over a Rest of the World team at the Sydney Football Stadium, putting him out for the rest of the 1988 NSWRL season. Meninga's broken arms saw him play only 17 games for the Raiders in 1987 and 1988. His third also saw him miss a place in Australia's 25–12 win over New Zealand in the World Cup final at Eden Park in Auckland at the end of the 1988 season.
After being given the Raiders' captaincy, Meninga led Canberra to their first premiership in 1989 after overcoming the Balmain Tigers 19–14 in extra time in the Grand Final, the Raiders becoming not only the first non-Sydney team to win the premiership, but also the first team to win after finishing the minor round in 4th place. In the post season Meninga travelled with the Raiders to England and captained the team in their 30–18 loss to a Martin Offiah inspired Widnes in the 1989 World Club Challenge at Old Trafford. Meninga successfully returned to top level representative football in 1989, playing for Queensland in their State of Origin series whitewash of NSW (though he did suffer an eye socket injury in the second game in Sydney which kept him out of the third), before being selected to the mid-season tour of New Zealand. After playing in the centres for the first two test wins over the Kiwis, Meninga was moved to the second-row for the third test in Auckland with great effect as he scored a try and kicked one goal to add to his 5 goals in the first test and 2 in the second.
At the end of the 1990 NSWRL season Meninga led the Raiders to another Grand final victory against the Penrith Panthers. He was also the year's top try-scorer (crossing for five in the Round 5 match against Eastern Suburbs at the Raiders new home ground, Bruce Stadium) and top-point scorer, and was named as Rugby League Week's player of the year. After gaining the test captaincy that year in the absence of an injured Wally Lewis (also because of a broken arm) for the one-off test against France in Parkes and the test against New Zealand in Wellington, Meninga was duly named captain of the 1990 Kangaroos. His popularity and playing record as a domestic and international captain were valuable in raising the profile of the rebel competition. In 1995, Meninga's book Mal Meninga: My Life in Football was published. He was appointed head coach of his old club, the Canberra Raiders in Australia's Super League season in 1997.
Canberra Raiders
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 footballer of the highest standard". After Canberra failed to make the finals of the 2001 NRL season, finishing fourth-last (11th out of 14 teams), Meninga was replaced by Matthew Elliott as Raiders coach.
In late 2002, Meninga expressed interest in the Queensland State of Origin team coaching job.
During the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, Wales' assistant coach Scott Johnson got Meninga to assist with pre-match preparation by speaking to the players and presenting them with their jerseys.
In late 2005, he was announced as the new Queensland State of Origin coach, to replace Michael Hagan.
Prime Minister's XIII
From 2005 to 2012, Meninga served as coach of the Australian Prime Minister's XIII. During his tenure, Meninga coached the PM's XIII in 8 matches, winning 7 and drawing 1. He was succeeded as coach of the PM's XIII by New South Wales coach Laurie Daley.
Queensland
Meninga made a successful début as the Maroons coach in the 2006 State of Origin series, guiding Queensland to a 2–1 series victory, its first outright series victory since 2001 (this despite the fact Queensland lost the first match). Also in 2006, he coached the Prime Minister's XIII side to victory over the Papua New Guinea national rugby league team. Meninga attended the 2007 Challenge Cup Final, in which his old club St Helens was playing, at Wembley Stadium as a guest of honour. On 13 October 2006, 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. When 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". In the 2009 series, Queensland won the first two games giving them a record fourth consecutive series win with captain Darren Lockyer saying Meninga now stands among the legends in State of Origin. In December 2009, Meninga was named coach of the year at the Queensland Sports Awards.
In 2010, Meninga coached Queensland to a fifth straight series win, and is now regarded as the greatest and most successful Origin coach in history. He also coached them to their first "clean sweep" since 2000.
In 2011, Meninga achieved his sixth straight series as coach of Queensland honoring a promise he made in 2008. after he believed that they [the NSW media] had tried to sabotage his side's attempts at winning their sixth successive series by charging Johnathan Thurston and David Taylor with on-field incidents (only the latter was suspended) and also attacking NSW coach Ricky Stuart over his decision not to reveal the Blues line-up up to one hour before kick-off (which is when the official team lists must be released prior to a match). He was set to face legal action from the NRL's match review panel over his now controversial column, but after negotiations with them on 1 August 2011, the matter was resolved. Meninga still maintains what he has written. For the 2013 State of Origin series New South Wales appointed Laurie Daley to coach against Meninga. This was the third consecutive opponent of Meninga in State of Origin coaching to have been a teammate of the 1990 Winfield Cup Grand Final-winning Canberra side. In 2013, Meninga achieved his eighth consecutive series win with the Queensland State of Origin team.
thumb|right|400px|Meninga (right) on duty as the Head Coach of Australia
Meninga's record-breaking winning streak ended with the Blues' win in the 2014 State of Origin series. The Maroons, however, still scored more points than the Blues across all three matches.
In the 2015 State of Origin Series he coached Queensland to their ninth series win in ten years, with the decider played at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on 8 July 2015 and Queensland recording both the largest score and biggest victory margin with a 52–6 victory.
Australia
On 2 December 2015, Meninga was appointed as the head coach of the Australian national rugby league team, succeeding Tim Sheens. This, however, meant that he had to resign from his post as Queensland Origin coach (following events during the 1985 Kangaroo Tour of New Zealand, the Australian Rugby League had decided that the Australian coach could not be a current State of Origin coach), thus ending the most successful Origin coaching stint in NRL history. Before his appointment he announced his ambitions that he wanted the International game to become the pinnacle of rugby league like it was in his playing days.
In late 2017, Meninga coached the Australian team to win the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
In October 2022 he named his Australia squad for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
thumb|upright|Meninga coaching Australia in 2022
Meninga coached Australia in their 2021 Rugby League World Cup final victory over Samoa.
thumb|right|Meninga after winning the 2021 RLWC Final
Perth Bears
On 6 June 2025, it was announced that Meninga would return as an NRL coach. The rugby league Immortal was unveiled as the inaugural coach of the Perth Bears, revealing he was fully aware of the gravity of being the man charged with leading the NRL's 18th team from 2027. Meninga has agreed to take the reins for at least the 2027 and 2028 seasons, but with the more immediate focus of building the club, and the roster, from the ground up. His return to NRL coaching after a 25-year hiatus would result in him resigning as head coach of the national team, with the ARLC appointing Kevin Walters the new Test coach for Australia.
Political career
Meninga briefly campaigned as an Independent for the seat of Molonglo 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. 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." In 2017, he said that in the six weeks of preparation he had done leading up to the interview, he had not considered how he would respond if asked "why should people vote for you?".
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". In an episode, which aired on 28 November 2007, Meninga satirised 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 brief thing, especially in comparison to other political careers. A 'Mal Meninga moment' is another phrase stemming from this event, referring to gaffes where a speaker is unable to answer an obvious question.
Personal life
Meninga has been married twice. His first marriage produced two children, Tamika and Josh. His second marriage, to Amanda, produced three children, two boys and a girl. Meninga also fathered an English daughter during the 1982 Kangaroo tour, meeting her for the first time in 1994.
Mal Meninga's brother Bevan served 21 years in jail for the 1991 murder of Sunshine Coast teenager Cheree Richardson.
Records
- Only player to make four Kangaroo Tours as a player (1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994)
- Only player to twice captain a Kangaroo Tour (1990 and 1994).
- Most points scored in Test matches for Australia (272 – 21 tries, 96 goals) – since surpassed by Johnathan Thurston
- Most goals kicked in Test matches for Australia (96) – since surpassed by Johnathan Thurston
- Most goals kicked in a State of Origin match for Queensland (7 in Game 1 1980) – since surpassed by Johnathan Thurston
- Most State of Origins won as coach in a row. 2006–2013 (8 series)
Honours
Meninga is regarded as an official spokesperson for the South Sea Islander community.
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.
He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2003.
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. 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.
In June 2008, he was chosen in the Queensland Rugby League's Team of the Century at centre.
In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, Meninga was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for his role as a "sports legend".
In 2016, Meninga was a recipient of the Queensland Greats Awards.
On 1 August 2018, Meninga was announced as one of The Immortals, along with Norm Provan, Frank Burge, Dave Brown and Dally Messenger.
Playing statistics
Club
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|†
|Denotes seasons in which Meninga won a Premiership in the BRL or NSWRL
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center; width:80%;"
! width="2%" |Season
! width="8%" |Team
! width="2%" |Matches
! width="2%" |T
! width="2%" |G
! width="2%" |F/G
! width="2%" |Pts
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1979
| style="text-align:center;" | Southern Suburbs
|19
|9
|76
|0
|179
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1980
| style="text-align:center;" | Southern Suburbs
|22
|17
|97
|0
|245
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal; background:#afe6ba;" |1981†
| style="text-align:center;" | Southern Suburbs
|20
|14
|46
|0
|134
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1982
| style="text-align:center;" | Southern Suburbs
|11
|6
|26
|0
|70
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1983
| style="text-align:center;" | Southern Suburbs
|10
|8
|28
|0
|88
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1984
| style="text-align:center;" | Southern Suburbs
|19
|18
|41
|0
|154
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1984–85
| style="text-align:center;" | St Helens
|31
|28
|8
|0
|128
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal; background:#afe6ba;" |1985†
| style="text-align:center;" | Southern Suburbs
|8
|6
|0
|0
|24
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1986
| style="text-align:center;" | Canberra
|20
|3
|65
|1
|143
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1987
| style="text-align:center;" | Canberra
|12
|6
|34
|1
|93
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1988
| style="text-align:center;" | Canberra
|5
|3
|7
|0
|26
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal; background:#afe6ba;" |1989†
| style="text-align:center;" | Canberra
|16
|2
|19
|0
|46
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal; background:#afe6ba;" |1990†
| style="text-align:center;" | Canberra
|24
|17
|72
|0
|212
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1991
| style="text-align:center;" | Canberra
|22
|13
|57
|0
|166
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1992
| style="text-align:center;" | Canberra
|21
|6
|17
|0
|58
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1993
| style="text-align:center;" | Canberra
|20
|11
|4
|0
|52
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal; background:#afe6ba;" |1994†
| style="text-align:center;" | Canberra
|26
|13
|8
|0
|68
|- class="sortbottom"
! colspan="2" |Career totals
!306
!180
!605
!2
!1886
|}
Further reading
References
Notes
External links
- Mal Meninga at eraofthebiff.com
- Mal Meninga Biography
- Saints Heritage Society profile
- Queensland Team of the Century named – article at nz.leagueunlimited.com
- Mal Meninga Digital Story and Oral History, State Library of Queensland. The interview was conducted between Mal Meninga and his brother, Geoffrey Meninga