6 hrs
Meninga leaves Kangaroos job with international game thriving
Mal Meninga has walked away from his role as Kangaroos coach after eight years convinced that international rugby league could become bigger than State of Origin.
Meninga, the game's 13th Immortal, took over the Australian coaching job in 2016 with the Kiwis ranked No.1 after three consecutive trans-Tasman Test wins in the 2014 Four Nations and 2015 ANZAC Test.
During 28 Tests as coach of Australia, Meninga guided the Kangaroos to World Cups win in 2017 and 2022, and oversaw just three defeats - against New Zealand in 2019 and 2023, and Tonga in 2019.
The new Perth Bears coach will now hand over the reins for the end-of-season Ashes series and next year’s World Cup, which he believes at least five nations – Australia, England, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga - are capable of winning.
“I think down the track it could even be more than that,” Meninga said.
“I think the Fijian side, we're starting to get more talent out of there, and obviously with the PNG side coming into the NRL [in 2028], you would imagine that they'll be stronger as well down track.
“It could be anything, I have always said that the international game can match Origin, when you talk about followers and bums on seats and sponsorship, we have got to think that it has got that future.”
During Meninga’s tenure as Australian coach, he has witnessed the rise of the Pacific nations – led by Tonga at the 2017 World Cup – and believes Tests have never been so competitive.
Since the international game’s return after Covid, the Kangaroos have played Samoa in the final of the World Cup in 2022, lost to New Zealand in the final of the 2023 Pacific Cup and beat Tonga in last year’s final at a sold-out CommBank Stadium.
Seasoned league figures have described the atmosphere as the best of any game they have attended, and those scenes are set to be replicated or even heightened when Samoa and Tonga clash in this year’s Pacific Championships, as well during the Ashes Tests against England.
“We have had three different challenges in that period of time so that’s where the game is going,” Meninga said. “It has created big crowds so people flock to it. That’s how popular it is.
“It is a special time of year, and it is great where the game is at. I don’t know where ticket sales are at for Wembley but collectively it could be the biggest viewership in the history of the Ashes.”
Meninga, who played 46 Tests for Australia and is the only player to have been on four Kangaroo tours to the UK, was a driving force behind the revival of the Ashes, which was last contested in 2003.
However, he confirmed he would not be in charge when the Kangaroos travel to England to play at London’s Wembley Stadium on October 25, the new Everton Stadium in Liverpool on November 1 and Headingley Stadium in Leeds on November 9.
“The Kangaroos job is a full-time job. It is not just coaching the team at the end of the year, it comes with other responsibilities and commitments,” Meninga said
“I won’t be the Australian coach, but from a transition point of view I know that I will be part of all that.
“I loved the opportunity to coach the Australian team and help build the international program, but I feel where I sit in my career at the moment, this is a really important gig.
“This is a treasured moment in my footy career to be able to be part of the Perth Bears.”
ARLC Chairman Peter V'landys paid tribute to Meninga for his contribution to the Kangaroos and international rugby league.
“On behalf of the Commission, I congratulate Mal on his appointment and thank him for his wonderful contribution as Kangaroos coach," he said.
"Mal leaves the Kangaroos program in tremendous shape and now takes on a vital role for the progression of the sport domestically.”