He gets embarrassed by his status at St Helens. Reason: we hadn’t won much for a while, he came in and made us believe again, he made the players believe again. And we won 2 trophies that year. 1 against Wigan. He brought thousands through the gates. Thanks Mal.
Canberra born and bred. Remember when the raiders started, out at Seiffert Oval in Qbn. It was brutal for the first couple of years. The only name I remember was O’Sullivan, and I only knew him because I was at school with is brother. Then Meninga turned up, with Belcher, Daly, Ferguson, Ricky Stuart, Bellamy, Lazarus, Bradley Clyde, and many others. As a hometown team you could support on a Sunday, and see the doing their shopping on a Monday, they were great. I seem to remember that Mal could be seen everywhere, and he was always willing to chat to anybody, little kids to old folks in wheel chairs. My own most vivid memory of Mal and his arm guard was in a game against the Steelers in Wollongong. With one arm he fended off a defender, while with the other he sold the biggest dummy ever. It not only split the defence, but a couple of raiders team mates also collided because they were also fooled. I also remember the commentary team going silent because they had both been sucked in as well. Meninga had all the skills, all the rugby league smarts, the aggression, and the leadership. Never saw anyone in the same class.
Mal Meninga was a great player, inspirational captain, coach and a gentle giant of the game. It’s also fitting to know that he is now the 13th Immortal of the game. Thanks for your video, I enjoyed it. Mal is currently the Australian Rugby League Coach, which he thoroughly deserves.
I too am a Brit, but I would not say my favourite player of all time. However, I remember his reputation preceding him before he came to have a stint at St Helens. Those days we didn't have the ready internet access to, well, virtually everything. In my mind's eye I had this image of a colossal brute of a man who was nothing but a "wrecking ball". However, when I saw him in the UK. (and I saw him play several times), my overriding observation of him was " What an absolutely terrific footballer he was ; grace and class personified!"
Not a Raiders or QLD fan by any means but there’s no denying Mal was a legend in the game. He was in 5 Grand Finals in 9 seasons ! Not to mention his AUS & QLD Wins !
I'm a rugby union man, from Ireland but the best Rugby Player I've ever seen, and I stress 'Rugby', either Union or League was Wally Lewis and Mal is not far behind at all.
If only Meninga switched to Union and possibly meet his greatest rival "Jonah Lomu", would've been some Bledisloe clash since Wallabies were good in those days. Mal: 6'2, 107kg vs Lomu: 6'5, 120kg
Disliked him in a Queenslander and Kangaroos jersey but when he wore the Canberra Jersey ... He was the Champion , sorry but I'm a NSW, Kiwis and a Raiders fan..🤣🤣
