Mal Meninga's Resurgent Kangaroos
Braaaadas.
As the Kiwis notched up a few wins over their trans-Tasman rivals, you couldn't help but feel as though something just wasn't quite right with the Kangaroos. This period of dominance from the Kiwis was led by a wonderfully stacked footy team that we haven't seen again this year, although this strong Kiwis side weren't exactly beating this current group of Kangaroos who have flourished under the new guidance of Mal Meninga.
Meninga took over from Tim Sheens after steering Queensland to win after win over New South Wales. During his tenure as Queensland coach, Meninga worked wonders with a group of players who will go down in history as greats of the game but more importantly, he sowed the seeds of a successful Maroons culture that enabled future success by ensuring young players spent time around the Maroons team and were always in the loop in terms of playing style and team values.
Given what Meninga had done with Queensland, it shouldn't come as any surprise that he's done something similar with the national team. Where state divisions apparently used to plague the Kangaroos, Meninga had this group firing on all cylinders and he also poured cold water on an apparently bias towards his Queensland faithful. In the team that beat the Kiwis in the Four Nations final, Meninga named a Queensland contingent of Darius Boyd, Valentine Holmes, Greg Inglis, Jonathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith, Matt Scott, Matt Gillett and Michael Morgan. The New South Wales crew featured Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson who were both impressive throughout the tournament, however what really gave the Kangaroos the edge over the Kiwis was a forward pack that included Aaron Woods, Boyd Cordner, Trent Merrin, David Klemmer, Tyson Frizell and Shannon Boyd, all of whom aren't from Queensland.
While the Queensland spine always give the Kangaroos an upper hand over any opposition, having a forward pack who were able to get these play-makers into attacking positions from which they could unleash their set-moves, was crucial to the Kangaroos success. It's also worth noting that NSW coach Laurie Daley ignored Merrin this year, while Meninga was all too happy to use the Penrith Panther in the No.13 jersey as a reward for strong form all season.
Much was made of the decision to not select Andrew Fifita, despite his dominant form with Cronulla Sharks as they did the impossible. Boyd came off the bench for the Kangaroos in the final and if Fifita was selected, it would have been in Boyd's place but the Kangaroos certainly weren't worse off for not picking Fifita as Boyd ran over 100m in less than 40 minutes of action. When you consider the moral high-ground that is required in selecting a national team and team chemistry, you can't really argue that Meninga didn't make the right decision here.
Meninga also, wisely included a bunch of younger players who are going to enjoy prominent roles for the Kangaroos in the next decade. As he did with Queensland, Meninga is ensuring that there are plans in place to keep the Kangaroos at the top as their greats move into the twilight years of their respective careers which will also stop the Kangaroos from slumpin' as they did in the last two years. Once again, Meninga's Queensland bias is absent here as the likes of Josh Mansour, Matt Moylan and Jake Trbojevic are all New South Welshmen.
There was plenty of talk about how Meninga was restoring pride in the Australian jersey and while the Kangaroos dismantled a slightly weakened Kiwis team in the past month, their climb from the relative slums back up to the top of international rugby league is fair evidence of Meninga's ability as a coach, or more so as a mentor. Meninga not only had the Kangaroos playing a style of footy that combined a grinding patience with sublime skill, he had a group of men that who are all at different stages of their careers enjoying their time together and this was blatantly evident on the pitch. Stories of players enjoying plenty of spare time, giving up that spare time to visit hospitals and competing against each other in-house via team competition will serve as perfect examples of how to bring a team together.
This now sets up an intriguing international rugby league situation with a resurgent Kangaroos team chasing the icing on the cake of World Cup glory. Standing in their way are a plucky gang of smaller nations who are improving, a Wayne Bennett led England who should get much better with more time together and a Kiwis team that has only rolled out sub-par teams in the past 12 months going back to last year's tour of England.
Normal service has resumed with the Kangaroos operating at a class above the rest of the world, on and off the pitch. My kiwi bias has me excited to see how the Kiwis respond to this challenge with the World Cup lurking on the horizon.