Bennett, Mal join forces to stop Maroon massacre

Mal Meninga will join Wayne Bennett in camp with Queensland as the Maroons hope to avoid a November massacre.

Mal Meninga and Wayne Bennett will join forces to coach the Maroons

Queensland has lost a handful of big-name players for this year’s State of Origin series, but their coaching staff will be the most star-studded in interstate history.

The Queensland Rugby League on Thursday confirmed Mal Meninga would join Wayne Bennett’s coaching staff for the series, reuniting two of the most powerful figures in Origin history as the Maroons attempt to pull off a November miracle.

Meninga had put his hand up to coach the Maroons when Kevin Walters was forced to stand down, but he was pipped to the post by Bennett. He offered Bennett his help last week when he caught up with the South Sydney coach in his capacity as a Fox League commentator.

Bennett spent the weekend mulling over the idea before contacting Meninga on Monday to offer him a position on the Queensland staff.

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Between them, Bennett and Meninga have presided over 18 series at the helm of Queensland. They have coached 52 games for 31 wins, a combined winning percentage of close to 60 per cent.

Meninga remains coach of the Australian team, but ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys confirmed the rugby league Immortal would stand down from his duties with the national side and forego his pay while he worked with Queensland.

Suddenly, the Maroons have been given an injection of optimism. They have hope. The relationship between Bennett and Meninga stretches back to their time at the police academy in Brisbane more than 40 years ago.

There was talk they fell out when Meninga beat Bennett to the Kangaroos job in 2015. However, Meninga has never hidden his respect for Bennett.

“It is nice to be able to help Wayne out in whatever capacity he wants me to,” Meninga said.

“It is a good opportunity for me to work with Wayne and under Wayne. It was just a conversation talking about footy in general and I said to Wayne if you need any support or help in any way, just let me know. He has been thinking about it and came back to me at the beginning of the week to say he would love for me to be involved.

“I was ecstatic. We go back a long way. He was very influential when I was young, definitely.”

Bennett added: “Mal will be a great sounding board for myself, support staff and the players. He understands Origin and cares deeply about the maroon jersey and what it means to the people of Queensland.

“I’m really glad Mal has accepted the role, as his presence alone will be a great asset for us moving forward.”

Meninga has previously lauded the influence of Bennett on his life. “I’ve already acknowledged Wayne and the great role he played in my life as a 15, 16, 17-year-old kid who was growing up and didn’t quite understand what life was all about,” he said.

“I wanted to be a policeman and arrest people, but he said I had some sort of talent with footy.

“Wayne told me I can be anything I wanted to be, as long as I put my mind to it.”

Bennett and Meninga will have their work cut out. The Queensland side has been stripped of stars Michael Morgan, Kalyn Ponga, David Fifita.

Team manager Petero Civoniceva also stepped down from his role and there has been speculation that Cameron Munster could be rubbed out of the series due to an ongoing knee problem.