Playing career Mal Meninga

1 playing career

1.1 brisbane
1.2 st helens
1.3 canberra

playing career

big mal captained australia 23 test matches between 1990 , 1994, , captained queensland state of origin team 3 years 1992 1994. remains player captain kangaroo tour on 2 occasions in 1990 , 1994.

i d watch in awe mal pulverised opposing defensive line bone-crunching runs. safety of spot 6 or 7 metres away action, felt grateful didn t have tackle him because giant thighs lethal weapons.

bill harrigan

brisbane

meninga made first grade début in brisbane rugby league premiership @ age of 18 souths magpies. selected play brisbane in 1979 amco cup, kicking goal in final lost cronulla-sutherland sharks. also, meninga first selected play centre queensland in 1979, , following year helped state win rugby league s first ever state of origin match against new south wales @ lang park, kicking 7 goals 7 attempts (meninga 1 of last players use toe-poke kicking style rather more accurate around-the-corner style starting take hold). origin game on 8 july 1980, meninga s 20th birthday. later year played in magpies brl premiership grand final loss, scoring try , kicking 3 goals magpies went down norths 17-15. however, in 1981 meninga again reached grand final souths defeated redcliffe dolphins 13-9.

in 1982, named man-of-the-match in game 1 of 1982 state of origin series against new south wales @ lang park, , later selected make test début australia in test against new zealand @ sydney cricket ground, being 540th player selected australia. meninga had unhappy game though, dislocating elbow in 28th minute after crunching blindside tackle kiwi winger dane o hara, while @ same time attempting break tackle kiwi fullback gary kemble. recovered , played in centres souths in 17-3 loss wynnum manly seagulls in brl grand final @ lang park.

post season toured europe undefeated 1982 kangaroos, playing in 6 tests on tour against papua new guinea, great britain , france. meninga kangaroos top point scorer on tour, scoring 166 10 tries (worth 3 points) , 68 goals, including personal haul of 19 points (1 try, 8 goals) in first ashes series test against great britain @ boothferry park in hull. backed 15 points (1 try, 6 goals) in second test @ wigan s central park, before adding further 14 points (7 goals) ashes tally in third test @ headingley in leeds. 1982 kangaroos, first touring team go through great britain , france undefeated, earned frank stanton coached team nickname invinvibles . mal s size, strength, , @ stage of career speed (in 1980s once reportedly timed @ 11.9 seconds on 100 metres) saw him wreak havoc weaker english club side defences, lions test side. according bbc commentators ray french , former great britain halfback alex murphy, lions players not handle manu mountain meninga.

meninga continued form in 1983, though south s missed brl grand final. played in queensland s second straight origin series win on nsw, while starring australia in 2 test series against new zealand in mid-season.

in 1984 meninga played major role in oceania team s 54-4 win against anglo-french selection in exhibition match paris, before returning brisbane after match continue playing souths. after again playing leading role queensland in third straight origin series win on nsw, meninga missed first ashes test against touring great britain side, recalled team second , third tests of series australia again won 3-0.

meninga continued form souths in 1985, playing in 10-8 grand final win on wynnum-manly. 1985 saw nsw win origin series first time, though mal selected mid-season kangaroo tour of new zealand. australia won test series 2-1 against kiwis meninga in centres each test, on tour had seen nsw vs qld rivalry come play in australian team, new zealand won dead rubber 3rd test @ carlaw park in auckland 18-0.

st helens

after displays on 1982 kangaroo tour, meninga in high demand english club sides. became saint 1984–85 rugby football league season when signed play st. helens, had paid around £30,000 services play in australian off-season , helped club victory in premiership. bought bbc commentator , former saints forward ray french while in australia covering 1984 great britain lions tour. st helens rivals wigan after him , had papers ready him sign. french had accidentally left st helens contract in hotel room asked wigan chairman maurice lindsay if borrow his; unbelievably, astute lindsay agreed , handed on papers. french crossed out reference wigan , changed st helens instead, stealing star under pies noses. mal meninga played left-centre, i.e. number 4, , scored 2-tries in st. helens 28-16 victory on wigan in 1984 lancashire county cup final during 1984–85 season @ central park, wigan on sunday 28 october 1984. meninga didn t manage serve second spell @ knowsley road, variety of reasons, not least being succession of injuries (three broken arms suffered in 1987 , 1988 respectively) punctuated career in australia. yet remains legendary figure in international rugby league, , season @ st helens has been described significant of overseas import in britain.

canberra

meninga joined souths teammate gary belcher @ canberra raiders played in new south wales rugby league premiership. souths coach wayne bennett joined them @ club co-coach alongside australian national coach, don furner in 1987. despite suffering broken arm in sickening collision goal posts in raider s round 10 match manly-warringah @ raiders home ground seiffert oval , subsequently missing 10 weeks (including queensland s successful 1987 state of origin series , one-off test loss against new zealand), meninga returned play in canberra s 18-8 loss manly in year s grand final @ scg, last ever grand final held @ ground. on unseasonably warm day, meninga s lack of match fitness since return told (he had played 60 minutes of preliminary final win on eastern suburbs week before) , replaced raiders reserve kevin walters midway through second half. scored raiders first points in maiden grand final appearance penalty goal in second half reduce deficit 6-2 after eventual clive churchill medal winner cliff lyons had scored sea eagles before half time allowing them take 6-0 lead break.

a second broken arm before start of 1988 nswrl season saw meninga missing until round 15. after 4 games raiders, meninga played australia in record 70-8 win on papua new guinea @ wagga wagga in country nsw, scoring 2 tries. unfortunately meninga, after 1 more game canberra broke arm third time in australia s 22-10 on rest of world team @ sydney football stadium, putting him out rest of 1988 nswrl season. meninga s broken arms saw him play 17 games raiders in 1987 , 1988. third saw him miss place in australia s 25-12 win on new zealand in world cup final @ eden park in auckland @ end of 1988 season.

after being given raiders captaincy, meninga led canberra first premiership in 1989 after overcoming balmain tigers 19-14 in time in grand final, raiders becoming not first non-sydney team win premiership, first team win after finishing minor round in 4th place. in post season meninga travelled raiders england , captained team in 30-18 loss martin offiah inspired widnes in 1989 world club challenge @ old trafford. meninga returned top level representative football in 1989, playing queensland in state of origin series whitewash of nsw (though did suffer eye socket injury in second game in sydney kept him out of third), before being selected mid-season tour of new zealand. after playing in centres first 2 test wins on kiwis, meninga moved second-row third test in auckland great effect scored try , kicked 1 goal add 5 goals in first test , 2 in second.

at end of 1990 nswrl season meninga led raiders grand final victory against penrith panthers. year s top try-scorer (crossing 5 in round 5 match against eastern suburbs @ raiders new home ground, bruce stadium) , top-point scorer, , named rugby league week s player of year. after gaining test captaincy year in absence of injured wally lewis (also because of broken arm) one-off test against france in parkes , test against new zealand in wellington, meninga duly named captain of 1990 kangaroos. third kangaroo tour after being member of 1982 s invincibles , being member of undefeated 1986 kangaroos became known unbeatables . meninga score opening try of kangaroo tour in first game against old club st helens @ knowsley road. after kangaroos shock 19-12 loss in first ashes test against great britain @ wembley stadium, australia won next 2 tests @ old trafford , elland road wrap series. in second test @ old trafford, meninga scored 1 of famous tries in test history. couple of minutes remaining , scores locked @ 10 all, raiders team mate ricky stuart raced through gap in tired lions defence , sprinted 70 metres upfield. lions players converging, meninga loomed in support , after legally shouldering lions centre carl gibson out of way, received pass stuart , touched down dramatic 14-10 win silenced of 46,615 strong crowd. mal went on score try in third , deciding test australia won 14-0 , retained ashes had held since 1974. had scored try @ wembley, meninga joined legendary australian winger ken irvine (1963), , unlikely try scorer, queensland , canberra prop sam backo (1988) australian s score try in each test of ashes series. in 1990, meninga s deeds in leading successful kangaroo tour saw him named britain s bbc overseas sports personality of year, first rugby league player win it.

in 1991 meninga s 20-year-old brother arrested rape , murder of 19-year-old woman, following year being sentenced life in prison, , being released in 2014. meninga himself continued form in 1991, helping queensland win origin series (wally lewis retained qld captaincy) before leading australia 2-1 series win on new zealand in mid-season tests. during 44-12 third test win @ lang park, meninga broke michael cronin s kangaroos point scoring record. @ end of 1991 season after raiders had lost 19-14 penrith in grand final, meninga captained australians tour of papua new guinea included 2-0 test series win on kumuls.

after canberra s salary cap problems @ end of 1991 saw them lose number of fringe players veterans (though most, including meninga, agreed take pay cut in order keep side together), raiders missed finals first time since 1986 when finished 12th in 1992. meninga s form continued though, captaining queensland in 1992 state of origin series (nsw won 2-1) australia s successful ashes defence against touring great britain lions. in great form in first test @ sydney football stadium, scoring 2 tries australia won 22-6. lions produced shock in second test in melbourne big 33-10 win, kangaroos, led meninga s 12 points (1 try, 4 goals) won deciding test @ lang park 16-10. starting in 3rd test @ lang park, meninga played 37th test, breaking record of 36 held reg gasnier since 1967. gasnier on hand congratulate meninga on achievement. @ end of 1992 season, meninga captained australia 10-6 win on great britain in world cup final in front of record international test crowd of 73,631 @ wembley stadium in london.

the raiders came in 1993, international stars meninga, ricky stuart, laurie daley, bradley clyde , steve walters, try scoring fijian noa nadruku (22 tries season) leading way. canberra finished third after minor round, , premiership favourites until fateful round 21 match hapless parramatta eels @ bruce stadium. halfback ricky stuart badly broke , dislocated right ankle in second half , despite club record 68-0 win, without halfback , chief play maker, raiders fell apart. lost last minor round game canterbury-bankstown 32-8, before meekly going out in straight sets in finals losses eventual grand finalists st. george , premiers brisbane. 1993 wasn t bad though. although queensland lost second straight state of origin series under menginga s captaincy, did lead australia trans-tasman test series win on new zealand in mid-season. meninga though forced miss first test @ mount smart stadium in auckland had been suspended 2 weeks use of elbow manly-warringah s welsh import centre john devereux in raiders round 10 match sea eagles @ brookvale oval. after australians got away lucky 14-all draw in first test, meninga returned team (which captained new south wales captain laurie daley in auckland) second test win @ palmerston north on extremely wet , cold night, third test win @ lang park.

on australia day 1994, meninga made member of order of australia service rugby league football . later year played last game canberra raiders in 1994 grand final led team victory on canterbury-bankstown third premiership in 6 years. fittingly, mal scored last try of match after taking intercept , outpacing bulldogs centre jarrod mccracken score beside posts (amazingly, despite being noted goal kicker throughout career, meninga declined take have been easy shot @ goal , left teams regular kicker david furner).

during 1994, meninga played final test on australian soil when led kangaroos record 58-0 win on france in one-off test @ sydney s parramatta stadium in front of packed house of 27,318. scored try , kicked 5 goals in final test australia in australia. unfortunately meninga, in last state of origin series queensland both captain , player, new south wales, led raiders team mate laurie daley, won series 2-1. state of origin series trophy mal meninga not win team captain. meninga captained raiders grand final record fifth time in 1994. @ end of 1994 season, meninga selected record fourth kangaroo tour , record second captain when went on 1994 kangaroo tour. meninga became player selected 4 kangaroo tours , player twice named tour captain. australia again lost first test against great britain @ wembley stadium, changes made team coach bob fulton saw kangaroos bounce vengeance in second test @ old trafford 38-8 win. scores locked @ 4-4 after 2 penalty goals each, meninga intercepted bobbie goulding pass 20 metres own line , raced 70 metres downfield, flying lions winger martin offiah bearing down on him. offiah tackled him, meninga gave timed pass winger andrew ettingshausen scored first of australia s 7 tries day. after poor first test, second saw welcome return form meninga. kangaroos scored hard fought 23-4 win in third test @ elland road once again retain ashes , keep alive streak of not having lost test series in england since 1959-60 kangaroo tour. on 4 december 1994, @ stade de la méditerranée in béziers, france, mal meninga captained australia record 74-0 victory on weak french team, scoring final try of game, , of career. in test career of 46 games australia, mal meninga scored total of 278 points (21 tries, 99 goals). australia won 40 , lost 6 of tests meninga played , did not lose test series during time in green , gold. played in centres on 40 occasions australia, 1 game on wing, 2 in second-row, , 3 bench. on 4 kangaroo tours player, meninga holds distinction in playing in every test australia on tour, playing 6 tests in both 1982 , 1986, 5 in 1990, , 4 in 1994. former teammate , coach of london broncos, gary grienke hopeful of bringing meninga club swansong season, did not eventuate.