“Back to the Future.”
These were the words of league legend Mal Meninga when he embarked on his spectacular return to Queensland’s home state to form a coaching dream team with Wayne Bennett.
Meninga was temporarily forced to step down from his role as the kangaroos trainer after accepting an invitation from the QRL to join Bennett’s staff on the series next month.
While admitting he doesn’t know exactly what role he’ll play alongside Bennett, the 60-year-old said he’ll try to educate a young Maroons squad about the team’s rich ancestry.
“I’m a huge believer and I think Wayne is celebrating history too,” he told 4BC’s Broad world of sports radio.
“You look back at history to judge where you are right now. It’s 40th anniversary this year, so one of my roles I would think of, I played in that game in 1980 (will it So many stories to share throughout the story that hopefully will resonate with the players and make them feel like they are part of the maroon jersey.
“Hopefully from there we can inspire them in some form and go out and do the work for Queensland.”
In this year’s State of Origin format, New South Wales and Queensland face each other three times in 14 days, and Meninga admitted the players are facing a difficult task.
“It will undoubtedly be a difficult preparation,” he said.
“There are a lot of players missing, especially in the Queensland program, so there are a lot of new faces. It will be interesting to see how all the players get through (games every week).
“Wayne has a lot of experience and trains regularly week after week.”
QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher has described Meninga’s appointment alongside Bennett as a “match made in heaven,” in which the duo won a combined streak of 14 State of Origin as coach of the Maroons.
The 2020 State of Origin series begins November 4th in Adelaide.
