Kangaroos season preview: New coach Mal Meninga is pushing to transform Test rugby league

NEW Australian coach Mal Meninga has a plan to transform Test footy – and it all starts with the players.

Jesse Bromwich pushes Johnathan Thurston off during the ANZAC Test Match between Australia v New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. Pics Adam Head

BEFORE Mal Meninga can convince the world the Kangaroos are the game’s best rugby league team, the new Australian coach must convince the players he will task with completing the job.

For the first time in a decade, 2016 sees Meninga with a new role and new challenges.

Fancy yourself as a coach? Sign-up for NRL SuperCoach

Leaving the Queensland State of Origin team after an almost unfathomable nine series wins in 10 years as coach, Meninga has been appointed as the first dedicated coach of the Australian Test team.

Meninga, who played a significant role in Origin’s rise, is now back to return the Kangaroos jersey to the game’s green and gold standard, not by pulling Origin back to the field, but by taking international football to new heights.

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has been appointed as the first dedicated coach of the Australian Test team.

“My first job is to make international rugby league relevant again to the players,” Meninga said.

“We need to create programs, events and matches that genuinely excite the players and that they want to be a part of.

“Origin has that appeal. Every player in the game wants to put a maroon or blue jersey on – even if they are a Kiwi or a Pom.

“We have to transplant that sentiment to Test football.”

It is a path Meninga has walked before.

While it would be drawing a long bow to suggest Origin was on death’s door when Meninga was appointed as Queensland coach late in 2005, the Maroons’ three straight series losses had given it a worrying cough.

Former Queensland players were vocal in their concerns that the passion for the Maroon jersey was fading. Losses weren’t hurting as much as they used to.

Playing for Queensland did not seem to mean as much anymore.

Johnathan Thurston is manhandled by New Zealand’s Jesse Bromwich. Picture Adam Head

It is a similar narrative now, but with a green-hand-gold cover instead of maroon.

Now, as in 2005, Meninga has attracted criticism for being handed a job some argued could be handled by an NRL coach in his spare time. “What has surprised me about the criticism really is that people have not understood what the Kangaroos job entails,” Meninga said. “People say ‘it’s not a fulltime job’. That’s quite correct. It’s not. I am not sitting at a desk from nine to five working on a game plan to beat the Kiwis in May.

“What it is a dedicated job as coach of the Kangaroos, which means that as a coach, my sole responsibility is ensuring the success of the Australian team.

“Part of my job as Australian coach is looking after and developing all our elite teams, which means working with the Australian Schoolboys team, the Junior Kangaroos, the Australian Universities team, the Jillaroos and even our affiliate Australian teams from the police and the armed forces, and our wheelchair team.

“I will also be working with our elite pathways teams, like the Prime Minister’s XIII, creating a high-performance unit within the Australian rugby league, creation of the events for our teams to play in. It is about creating a better culture around the team, but also creating structures outside of the team environment to re-establish what a massive honour it is to wear the Australian jersey.”

Originally published as Kangaroos season preview: New coach Mal Meninga is pushing to transform Test rugby league