Mal up there with best
MAL Meninga has been hailed as arguably the greatest Kangaroos coach after becoming the first Australian coach to win his first 10 Test matches.
Australia’s win over Lebanon last weekend means Meninga’s side remains unbeaten since he took over from Tim Sheens almost two years ago.
Former coaches Chris Anderson, Bob Fulton and Ricky Stuart won nine of their opening 10 Tests, while Wayne Bennett, Reg Gasnier and Sheens had eight victories.
Don Furner won his first 24 matches in charge of the Kangaroos, however, more than half of them were against English and French club sides during the 1986 tour of Europe.
“You can’t compare different eras but when it comes to man-management, he’s the best I’ve seen,” former Kangaroos back-rower and current assistant coach Trevor Gillmeister said.
“That’s what he’s very good at, he knows his strengths and he gets us old blokes to fit in.”
Centre Josh Dugan, who made his Test debut in Sheens’ final match with the clipboard in 2015, recalled the changes Meninga has introduced during his tenure.
“It was a bit of a disrupted week. We were supposed to play Friday, we had that massive storm in Brisbane, we got moved to Sunday and New Zealand put on a clinic on us,” Dugan said.
“It was a tough welcoming to the Australian squad but since then it’s been smooth sailing.”
And the primary factor has been Meninga who, before his appointment, had steered Queensland to an unprecedented eight-straight series wins over NSW.
Dugan said one of Meninga’s toughest tasks was healing the divide he inadvertently created as Maroons coach.
“There was a little bit of that divide between Queensland and NSW but ever since Mal’s taken over, he’s put a massive emphasis on green and gold, Dugan said.
“We’re all here to represent Australia and do our best for our country.
“I think everyone’s done that to a tee and everyone’s done their families and themselves proud.”
The Kangaroos have had a light week preparing for their quarter-final against Samoa in Darwin, having a closed training session on Tuesday before enjoying yesterday off.