Speculation is rife that Mal Meninga will today announce that he will take up a full-time coaching role with the Kangaroos. This comes after Tim Sheens stepped down from his post, coincidentally after three losses to the Kiwis and if Meninga does chose to take his coaching career one step further, part of Queensland's State Of Origin dynasty will die.

How significant that part is however is the question. 

Taking on the Kangaroos job won't be too greater hassle for Meninga. Sure, there will be certain expectations placed on a full-time Kangaroos coach but Meninga has done such a thorough job with the Maroons in setting up development structures and identifying talent that the full-time aspect won't be an issue. Nor will the relationships he shares with the players as a fair chunk of the Kangaroos squad (including any newcomers next year) have already worked under Meninga for Queensland.

In that sense, Meninga is perfectly jumping between two jobs that are fairly similar as he carves out a niche as a representative coach.

Where this gets funky for Australian Rugby League is their decision to make this a full-time job and with it a hefty spike in remuneration; Sheens was reportedly on $50,000 a year for his part-time role while Meninga will get a reported $300,000 a year. When you ponder the difference in preparation, planning and general work between being the Queensland coach and the Kangaroos coach, the full-time aspect also comes into question. 

Meninga would have been tasked with not only merely coaching the Maroons, but organising everything of the periphery as well. There's Emerging Origin squads to name and coach, there's junior pathways to suss out and the general workload from the outside appears higher. If Meninga does become the Kangaroos coach, he would be bucking the trend as England's coach Steve McNamara and Kiwis' coach Stephen Kearney are both part-timers who are also assistant coaches in the NRL.

The biggest question for me though is where does this leave Queensland? Apparently Kevin Walters will take over and while Walters has worked hand in hand with Meninga, it's hard to ignore the fact that Meninga has had a huge influence in making the Maroons such a great team. Yeah yeah, Meninga has had some of the game's greatest players to work with but he has aligned these great players in their thinking and in creating a certain culture, while also bringing a constant wave of youngsters into the Origin cauldron.

Mana. It's a Te Reo word that us kiwis love and mana is exactly what I think of when Meninga comes to mind. Can another coach come in and extract the same juice out of these players or will we see just how skillful Meninga is as a coach in next year's Origin series?

Working in the Maroons' favour is the fact that their best players double as some of the smartest, most well-rounded players in the game. If you're from New South Wales or support the Blues you would argue that Meninga ain't shit - 'how much coaching does he actually do with Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Jonathan Thurston in the team?'

I would counter by saying that's the skill in being a 'rep coach and we could possibly see the perfect avenue open up for Smith, Cronk and Thurston to hold greater influence on the Maroons (if they can). When great players like these three get long in the tooth, they start to let their minds wander into the future and who knows, one of these three (probably Smith) could be eyeing up this job once they hit retirement. Alternatively, it's not like Queensland are short on former players of the highest ilk either and this will also provide opportunities for the likes of Darren Lockyer and Alfie Langer to step up and fill any void left by Meninga's departure.

While the playing group is still very much in tact, this is the first sign of the Maroons' disbanding their great team. It's a small step and one of many examples of Meninga's ability as the Maroons coach is evident in how the Maroons are set up to move forward. This is the first test to see how the Maroons deal with change.