History beckons for masterful Meninga

Mal Meninga stands on the verge of completing a historic achievement as Australian coach: a perfect year of results.

For all the Australian rugby league team’s storied achievements throughout history, spanning decades and generations of champion players, new coaches have invariably stumbled early after being appointed.

If Australia beat New Zealand on Monday morning (Australian time), Meninga will have won six straight Tests.

Only Don Furner has bettered this, who won his first nine matches in 1986. Coaching luminaries such as the great Frank Stanton (1986), Ken Kearney (1956) and Bob Fulton (1990) all lost their sixth Test match as Kangaroos coach.

In recent history, Tim Sheens, who won 26 of 31 Tests between 2009-2015, drew in his second game against the Kiwis. His predecessor Ricky Stuart, who only lost 2 of 14, dropped his fourth against Great Britain in Sydney in 2006.

The last man to win every game in his first year was Wayne Bennett, who accounted for New Zealand in two Tests in 1998.

Whether you have Maroon or Blue blood running through your veins, you have to admit that Mal Meninga is a superb representative coach. What makes him so good? It’s a mixture of respect, coaching smarts and firm beliefs.

Meninga carved out such an impressive playing career for Australia – 46 Tests, 278 points, 99 goals and 21 tries – that he automatically earns respect for his achievements. His players know he has walked their footsteps.

“Besides his coaching philosophies, Mal provides a really good environment for people to express themselves and play their best football,” said halfback Cooper Cronk before State of Origin in 2013.

“The one thing he always does well is he makes us respect the past.”

The former Queensland mentor knows about creating great representative environments, with an apprenticeship of ten years at Origin level to hone his craft. Former Kiwi coach Frank Endacott, who had great success at Test level, felt it was best to create an environment of happy players. Meninga’s boys seem a relaxed bunch.

It is interesting Cronk mentioned about respecting Queensland’s history. Ever since Meninga’s appointment in December last year, he has regularly reinforced his desire to instil a great understanding about the Kangaroo jersey. It means a great deal to him, and the players seem to be united in their adoption of this importance.

He held firm in this stance with selection of the Four Nations touring team, leaving out notable players such as Andrew Fifita and Semi Radradra.

“I think the Kangaroos should be held in that high esteem and the players are buying into that,” he said at the time.

Like his role with Queensland, his teams aren’t simply about dominant performances: he wants them to transcend this. No longer can Australia simply turn up and win. They need to be united, consistent and clear in their game plan.

With a team of so many elite players – many the best in their position in the world, such as Cronk, Cameron Smith and Greg Inglis – consistency of standard shouldn’t be a problem.

But even for the very best coaches, it can be.

Wayne Bennett, when he returned to coach Australia in 2004, lost the Tri-Nations final in 2005. Writing in The Man in the Mirror, he remembers why he decided to resign from the role immediately afterwards:

“I wanted to coach a team that would be a lot more consistent and play with stability. I think that I achieved that in about 50 per cent of our games, but it would not improve unless we approached things differently.”

Bennett couldn’t achieve this success with Australia. Meninga has made a good start. Perhaps, if he continues to win and goes on with the World Cup next year, he will be remembered as Australia’s greatest representative coach. He deserves to be.

The Kiwis stand in the way of Four Nations tournament success. David Kidwell is at the start of his representative coaching journey. Regardless of the result, Kidwell should watch and learn from the master coach in the other coaching box.