Queensland, Canberra and Australian legend Mal Meninga joins the Immortals

AT the third time of asking, Queensland legend Mal Meninga has joined the greatest players in rugby league history and made it into the Immortals.

News/sport 23/5/1994. Game one of the rugby league State of Origin series, 1994, Queensland vs New South Wales at Sydney Football Stadium. Queensland won 16-12 but NSW won the series 2-1. Queensland's Mal Meninga runs with the ball. Neg/no 35/P/10385-7 box/no Picture by Jim Fenwick Scanned May/ 2010 The Courier-Mail Photo Archive

FINALLY, third time lucky, Mal Meninga is a rugby league Immortal.

Meninga’s patient 15-year wait delivered the ultimate reward when the Queensland icon was bestowed rugby league’s most prestigious title at a gala dinner at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Twice overlooked in 2003 and 2012, Meninga fittingly charged into rugby league immortality on a night where the code celebrated the coronation of five more Immortals.

THEY’RE IN: Five new Immortals join the club

HISTORY: Discover the three pre-war Immortals

The Immortals are the most elite group of players in rugby league’s 110-year history. Before the SCG dinner, there were just eight — Clive Churchill, Bob Fulton, Reg Gasnier, Johnny Raper, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson and Andrew Johns.

Meninga was a legend for Canberra, Queensland and Australia.

Now the contingent has swelled to 13, with Meninga crowned alongside St George great Norm Provan and three pre-World War II pioneers Dally Messenger, Frank Burge and Dave Brown.

The Immortals are judged solely on performances as a player. On that measure, there is no man more deserving of the honour than Meninga.

Having previously missed out to Beetson (in 2003) and Johns (in 2012), there was a fear the Immortals ship had sailed on Meninga, but the 58-year-old would not be denied at the SCG last night.

Meninga was one of 10 league legends short-listed for Immortal status in June. The five players who missed out were Brian Bevan, Duncan Hall, Ken Irvine, Ron Coote and former Broncos skipper Darren Lockyer.

At the third time of asking, Meninga has made it.

Ian Heads, the chair of the judging panel and a former editor of the Rugby League Week publication which launched the Immortals concept in 1981, last night paid tribute to Meninga and Provan.

“Mal captained his club, his state and his country, and was one of a kind,” Heads said.

“Norm’s role in St George’s wonderful dynasty was immense, and quite simply something which will never be repeated.”

A South-Sea Islander, Meninga’s playing record is remarkable. He made his debut for Brisbane Souths in 1979 and amassed 306 top-grade games including stints at Canberra and St Helens in England.

Meninga made his State of Origin debut at age 20 and went on to play 32 matches for Queensland. He also won three premierships and amassed 46 Tests for Australia between 1982-94. He is the only man to be chosen for four Kangaroo tours and the only man to captain Australia on two Kangaroo tours.

Mal Meninga was inducted as the thirteenth Immortal at the 2018 NRL Hall of Fame Induction at the SCG. Picture: Brett Costello

Provan, 85, presided over the most ruthless club era in league history. He featured in 10 of St George’s record 11 premierships between 1956-66, including four as captain-coach.

In June, the NRL announced plans to unveil two Immortals, but the judging panel insisted on naming five to recognise the code’s pre-war players.

“The judges took the view that this was a one-off opportunity to recognise the past,” NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said.

“It was an opportunity the game could not afford to miss and the Immortals now reflect the full history of Rugby League — from 1908 to the present.”

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