Mal Meninga

Who Is Mal Meninga?

Mal Meninga is a famous Australian rugby league footballer. He is known for being a great footballer.

Mal Meninga is a very important person in the sports world. He is loved by many people who like rugby league football.

Early Life and Background

Mal Meninga was born on July 8, 1960.

Career and Claim to Fame

Mal Meninga is a former professional rugby league footballer and now a professional rugby league coach. He is very good at his job and has made a name for himself in the sports world.

Mal Meninga has a website where you can find out more about him. You can visit his website to learn more about his life and career.

His Website

His website is a great place to start if you want to know more about this famous footballer.

Birthday, Age and Zodiac

Mal Meninga was born on July 8, 1960. He is 66 years old. His zodiac sign is Cancer.

People who are Cancers are known for being very caring and loyal. They are also very sensitive and emotional.

Fun Facts and Legacy

Mal Meninga is a famous footballer who is known for being great at his job. He was born on July 8, 1960, and is 66 years old. He is a Cancer and is known for being caring and loyal.

We can learn a lot from Mal Meninga about being a good sport and working hard. He is a great example of what it means to be a good footballer and a good person.

Mal Meninga is a very important person in the sports world and we can all look up to him as a role model. He is an inspiration to many people who love rugby league football.

Mal Meninga - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Mal Meninga

Malcolm Norman Meninga AM (born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach and a former professional rugby league footballer.

This profile of Mal Meninga covers Early Life and Family Background, Career and Rise to Fame, Brisbane, St Helens and Canberra.

He is currently the inaugural head coach of the Perth Bears franchise in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Previously, Meninga coached the Australian national team, the Queensland Maroons, the Papua New Guinea national rugby league team and the Canberra Raiders.

After a lengthy career in both Australia and England, mainly as a goal-kicking centre, Meninga is consistently ranked among one of the finest players in the game's history. Having broken numerous rugby league records, 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.

Meninga has since been honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia, inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame, and named in both Queensland's and Australia's teams of the twentieth century.

Meninga is the only player in history to be selected for four Kangaroo Tours - 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 (1990 and 1994). Also, Meninga 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.

In 2018, Meninga was inducted as the 13th Immortal of rugby league.

Early Life and Family Background of Mal Meninga

Meninga, whose father is of South Sea Islander heritage and mother is a white Australian, 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 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.

Career and Rise to Fame of Mal Meninga

Meninga captained Australia for twenty-three 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 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.

Brisbane

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.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal_Meninga), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.