Following the news that Mal Meninga has left his post as coach of the Queensland State of Origin team to take up the role as head coach of the Australian national rugby league team, let’s take a look back at how he turned a struggling state into the dominant powerhouse in Origin history.

Late in 2005, following three consecutive Origin series losses and four consecutive years without an outright series victory (the Maroons retained the shield in 2002 as winners of the previous series, in 2001), it was announced that Meninga would replace Michael Hagan as coach of the Queensland Maroons.

Meninga had been instrumental in the Maroons’ early success, kicking seven goals from as many attempts as they won the first officially-sanctioned State of Origin match against New South Wales by 20-10.

Though he would later became the highest point-scorer in Origin history, and while his achievements as coach of the state are well-documented, he unfortunately would not enjoy the same success as captain. He lost the three series he captained between 1992 and 1994, the latter being the final year of his playing career.

Despite his failure to lead his state to Origin glory as captain, his achievements as a player were enough to see him appointed coach of the Queensland Maroons in late 2005.

It was to be his first coaching stint at any level since a modest five-year stint with the club he captained to their three premierships, the Canberra Raiders, between 1997 and 2001, during which the club’s best result was a preliminary final appearance in the 1997 Super League season.

The Maroons entered the 2006 series starring at the prospect of becoming the first state to lose four Origin series in succession. He inherited a side that featured the likes of Matt Bowen, then-Origin rookie Johnathan Thurston, captain Darren Lockyer and young hooker Cameron Smith among many others.

In fact, let’s compare the Maroons’ Game III, 2005 side to that Meninga would name for his first game as coach in 2006.

Queensland Origin side, Game III, 2005
Matthew Bowen, Ty Williams, Shaun Berrigan, Paul Bowman, Matt Sing, Darren Lockyer (c), Johnathan Thurston, Danny Nutley, Cameron Smith, Petero Civoniceva, Michael Crocker, Brad Thorn, Chris Flannery. Interchange: Ben Ross, Corey Parker, Ashley Harrison, Tonie Carroll.

Queensland Origin side, Game I, 2006
Matthew Bowen, Steven Bell, Justin Hodges, Brent Tate, Greg Inglis, Darren Lockyer (c), Johnathan Thurston, Steve Price, Cameron Smith, Petero Civoniceva, David Stagg, Matthew Scott, Dallas Johnson, Interchange: Shaun Berrigan, Carl Webb, Sam Thaiday, Nate Myles.

In (for Game I, 2006): Steven Bell*, Justin Hodges, Brent Tate, Greg Inglis*, Steve Price, David Stagg*, Matthew Scott*, Dallas Johnson*, Carl Webb, Sam Thaiday*, Nate Myles*
Out: Ty Williams, Paul Bowman, Matt Sing, Danny Nutley, Michael Crocker, Brad Thorn, Chris Flannery, Ben Ross, Corey Parker, Ashley Harrison, Tonie Carroll.

* denotes Origin debut

That’s a turnover of eleven players from the third game in 2005 to the first game in 2006. For that first game, seven players were given their Origin debut, including future Origin mainstays Greg Inglis, Matthew Scott, Sam Thaiday and Nate Myles.

Many expected New South Wales to continue their Origin dominance that year, having won the previous three series, the latter thanks to phenomenal individual performances from Andrew Johns in the second and third games which helped the Blues win the series from 1-0 down.

However that year, the Blues were to be missing their two most important players. Johns had announced his Origin retirement and Sydney Roosters fullback Anthony Minichiello through a series of injury.

Their coach at the time, Ricky Stuart, had also stepped down after just one series to concentrate on coaching the Sydney Roosters, who missed the finals for the first time in a decade as a result of his overloaded coaching commitments.

Thus, the Maroons saw this as a golden opportunity for them to end their Origin misery and start a dynasty of their own. Despite a brave performance in Game I, Mal Meninga would lose his debut match as Origin coach, with a late field goal from Blues halfback Brett Finch proving to be the difference.

In the aftermath, Matt Bowen, Matt Scott and David Stagg were dropped, while Greg Inglis was forced out with injury. Tonie Carroll and Chris Flannery each won recalls, while Karmichael Hunt and Adam Mogg debuted for Game II.

Mogg’s selection caused many to think: “Adam who?”, but the man himself would later vindicate his Origin selection with two tries as the Maroons thrashed the Blues 30-6 to send the series to a decider to be decided on neutral territory.

Game III was to be played at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome (now known as Etihad Stadium), a ground which was once the Melbourne Storm’s home ground in 2001.

This is where a massive turning point was established for the Maroons. Down 14-4 with ten minutes remaining, the prospect of losing a fourth straight Origin series looked set to dawn on them, until two late tries, the second of which was an intercept try scored by Darren Lockyer, gave them a 16-14 victory.

That sealed the Maroons’ first outright Origin series triumph, and the first of what would be a record-breaking run of eight consecutive Origin series victories. The rest, as they say, is history.

While their record winning streak has been well documented, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing, to say the very least.

Shortly after the 2007 series triumph, captain Darren Lockyer would suffer a season-ending knee injury for the Brisbane Broncos in a match against the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville, and would be slow in his recovery, thus costing him his involvement in the 2008 series.

That season, in Lockyer’s absence, hooker Cameron Smith (who became Melbourne Storm’s full-time captain in the aftermath of that 2007 series) would be given the captaincy, and, in a massive gamble, Karmichael Hunt was to partner Johnathan Thurston in the halves.

Smith’s first game as Queensland stand-in captain would not be one to be remembered, as the Maroons dropped the first game to an inspired New South Wales team 18-10 at ANZ Stadium.

Like they did in 2006, the Maroons retaliated and made several changes to their side, including redrafting Scott Prince into the side for his first Origin match since 2004, shifting Hunt to his regular position of fullback and giving Darius Boyd, another future Origin mainstay, his debut.

Those changes would work as the Maroons then handed New South Wales a 30-0 humiliation at Suncorp Stadium in the second game. Then, with an unchanged side for the decider (with the exception of the swapping of places by Nate Myles and Michael Crocker), held off the Blues 16-10 for their third consecutive series victory.

Following that series, Meninga extended his contract as Maroons coach until the end of 2011, and famously said “I want to win six State of Origin series in a row”.

Lockyer returned in 2009 and re-assumed the captaincy from Cameron Smith. That series, the Maroons had the chance to create their own history, three years after starring down the barrel of being on the wrong end of it.

The Maroons won the opening game at Etihad Stadium and then won the second match 24-14 at ANZ Stadium to become the first state to ever win four consecutive State of Origin series victories.

They then had the chance to cap off their history-making series victory with a first clean sweep since 1995, but lost the final match 28-16 amid allegations some Maroons players took celebrations way too far by overdrinking and mixing in drugs with energy drinks in the lead-up to the dead rubber match.

That final match was also to go down as one of the most controversial matches in recent Origin history, whereby opposing props Steve Price (Queensland) and Brett White (New South Wales) engaged in a one-on-one fight which later turned into an ugly brawl after the former was knocked out.

Although they had already achieved four consecutive Origin series victories, the Maroons wanted to further extend that dominance, and do that they did.

The 2010 series saw the Maroons achieve their first clean sweep since 1995 with victories by 28-24, 34-6 and 23-18 in each of the three matches, thus cementing their place as one of the greatest Origin teams of all time.

Fittingly, the clean sweep came on the eve of coach Mal Meninga’s half-century; he had also turned 20 on the day the first ever sanctioned State of Origin match was played.

The Maroons’ fifth consecutive Origin series victory sent New South Wales into a massive state of embarrassment – their coach, Craig Bellamy, whose NRL side the Melbourne Storm had been punished savagely for salary cap breaches that year, was sacked, and was replaced by Ricky Stuart.

Not only that, they also lost a major sponsor after just one series and were forensically investigated for their poor attitude towards State of Origin football, this investigation ironically being carried out by a Queenslander, current Sydney Roosters CEO Brian Canavan, who has also been credited for their on-field success which saw them win the premiership in 2013.

Back on topic now, and the 2011 series marked the first signs of the changing of the guard for the Maroons, with this being Darren Lockyer’s final series, the Broncos captain having announced that he would retire at the end of that season.

After being barely challenged the previous year, the Maroons were forced into a Game I struggle at Suncorp Stadium, winning by only 16-12 as they faced a Blues side that had completely been rebuilt following their 2010 Origin humiliation.

The Maroons then went down to the Blues in the second game 18-8, being held to single digits in an Origin match for the first time since 2007 as the Ricky Stuart-coached side levelled the series.

Then, back at home, Darren Lockyer would be given the perfect Origin send-off as the Maroons won the final game 34-24, completing a sixth consecutive State of Origin series victory and seeing Mal Meninga honour a promise he made in 2008.

Though the Maroons did continue their Origin dominance, it didn’t come without the challenge presented by the Blues who as mentioned before were thoroughly investigated following their 2010 series loss. The margin in each of the three matches were ten points or less (16-12, 8-18 and 34-24).

The 2012 series would see Cameron Smith assume the captaincy full-time, and a new permanent halves combination in Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk, following Lockyer’s retirement at the end of the previous year.

The combination of Thurston and Cronk would be just the second for the Maroons since the former’s debut in 2005, excluding the Hunt/Thurston and Thurston/Prince combinations in 2008 which came about due to Lockyer’s knee injury.

Smith’s first series as full-time captain would result in yet another series victory, their seventh consecutive, but it would not come without either controversy or the closest decider in Origin history.

The first game saw Greg Inglis score a controversial second-half try, after it was ruled that he had not knocked on; it eventually proved to be the difference as the Maroons took out the opening game by 18-10 at Etihad Stadium.

Watch the video below. Do you think this was a try? And do you think this could have been the difference between seven straight Origin series victories and a first series defeat since 2005? You be the judge.

Inglis’ try saw him overtake Dale Shearer to become the leading tryscorer overall in Origin history.

After a close 16-12 loss in the second game in Sydney, the Maroons would then take out the decider by 21-20 despite enduring a tryless second half, with halfback Cooper Cronk’s 74th-minute field goal ultimately proving to be the difference.

The 2013 series would see Mal Meninga and his Maroons aim for an eighth consecutive Origin series victory, facing a New South Wales side which was to endure yet another coaching change.

This time, Laurie Daley, a premiership-winning teammate of Meninga’s at the Canberra Raiders, was brought in to replace Ricky Stuart who was ruled out after he had signed on to coach the Parramatta Eels (and later the Raiders).

The Maroons would lose the first match of a series for the first time since 2008, but as they did in that year as well as in 2006, they would hit back hard, winning the second game in Brisbane by 26-6 before again escaping with a narrow 12-10 victory in the series decider in Sydney.

That saw them claim their eighth consecutive Origin series victory, and many started to think about whether they could extend their dominance to a full decade, and, half a century after the St George Dragons won a world-record eleven consecutive premierships between 1956-66, emulate that great Dragons side in winning eleven consecutive titles.

The Maroons would enter 2014 aiming to extend their Origin dominance to nine straight series, but an arm injury to Cooper Cronk in the first match would conspire against them as they lost 12-8. It was their first loss in Brisbane since 2009 and their first opening game loss in the city since 2003.

Cronk’s injury would see Daly Cherry-Evans start alongside Johnathan Thurston in the halves for Game II, and his inexperience would prove very costly as the Maroons’ Origin dynasty finally came to an end with a 6-4 loss.

Their first Origin series loss since 2005 would end their winning streak at eight, and deny them the chance to complete a full decade of Origin dominance as well as match the St George Dragons’ world-record run of eleven consecutive premierships set between 1956-66.

The Maroons would salvage the series, however, by winning the final game 32-8 in Brisbane, where nearly every player who played their part during their Origin dominance were honoured.

If the series were to have been decided by aggregate, the Maroons would have easily won; in the end, they outscored the Blues by 44-26 across the three matches (8-12, 4-6 and 32-8).

The series this year would see the Maroons regain the Shield, thanks to victories by 11-10 and 52-6 in Sydney and Brisbane respectively on either side of a 26-18 loss in Game II at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Though they narrowly failed in their bid to dominate State of Origin for a full decade, they still did win nine of the ten series in which Mal Meninga was in charge of the team.

And now, let’s compare the Game I, 2006 side (Meninga’s first match as Maroons coach) to the team that thrashed New South Wales 52-6 in the final game at Suncorp Stadium this year:

Queensland Origin side, Game I, 2006:
Matthew Bowen, Steven Bell, Justin Hodges, Brent Tate, Greg Inglis, Darren Lockyer (c), Johnathan Thurston, Steve Price, Cameron Smith, Petero Civoniceva, David Stagg, Matthew Scott, Dallas Johnson, Interchange: Shaun Berrigan, Carl Webb, Sam Thaiday, Nate Myles.

Queensland Origin side, Game III 2015
Greg Inglis, Darius Boyd, Will Chambers, Justin Hodges, Dane Gagai, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Matt Scott, Cameron Smith (c), Nate Myles, Aidan Guerra, Sam Thaiday, Corey Parker. Interchange: Michael Morgan, Josh Papalii, Matt Gillett, Jacob Lillyman.

From that 17, only seven players remain from Meninga’s debut game as Maroons coach: Inglis, Hodges, Thurston, Scott, Smith, Myles and Thaiday.

Thurston is also the only man to have played in each match of their eight consecutive Origin series victories, as well as this year’s triumph, and as a matter of fact has not missed an Origin match since debuting in 2005 (33 consecutive Origin matches and counting).

Such has been the dominance of the Maroons in the past decade, they have also provided most of the players for the Australian Test team, including the skeleton of Slater, Thurston, Cronk and Smith.

With the appointment of Mal Meninga as Kangaroos coach, that gives him a good base on which to build his team for the Anzac Test against New Zealand next season, with a venue for the match still to be decided.

It however has meant that he has had to step down as Queensland State of Origin coach, but there’s no denying that he has left the team in a much better state than when he found it.

He has left behind a team that has achieved a lot in the last decade, and many expect them to pick up where they left off next year, though it will not come without a challenge from the New South Wales team who will continue to be coached by Laurie Daley going forward.

Maroons assistant coach Kevin Walters is the favourite to take over as Maroons coach, and if the Sydney Swans’ transition from Paul Roos to John Longmire at the end of 2010 is anything to go by, then the Maroons’ aura may not look like ending anytime soon, even with the retirements of some of their veterans imminent.

Roos left the Swans at the end of 2010 following eight-and-a-half years at the helm, taking them to the premiership in 2005 after inheriting a dispirited team from previous coach Rodney Eade in 2002. Longmire has since kept the Swans in the top half of the ladder, taking them to another flag in 2012 and being top-four mainstays in subsequent seasons.

In the same manner, Mal Meninga inherited a Queensland Origin side that struggled in the first half of the noughties, and after starring down the barrel of being on the wrong side of history (first side to lose four Origin series in a row), took the side to the right end of it (eight consecutive Origin series victories).

Thus, the legacy that Meninga has left on the Queensland State of Origin side will never be forgotten, and it’s now up to whoever eventually succeeds him as coach to continue that legacy.