Rugby league legend Mal Meninga set to be inaugural coach of NRL expansion club Perth
FILE -Australia coach Mal Meninga smiles as he watches a captain's run in the lead up to the final of the Rugby League World Cup, in Manchester, England, Nov. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — The National Rugby League's newest team will have one of its oldest coaches when it begins play in 2027.
Australia head coach and ex-Kangaroos and Queensland Origin star Mal Meninga was unveiled Friday as the Perth Bears ' inaugural head coach.
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The 64-year-old Meninga signed a three-year contract with the new franchise, meaning he could be 69 when his contract expires in 2030.
NRL coaching great Wayne Bennett — now in charge at the South Sydney Rabitohs — is the oldest coach at the sport's elite level at 75. Craig Bellamy, who is 65, confirmed this week that he will continue coaching the Melbourne Storm into his 24th consecutive year next season.
Meninga is one of the most decorated players and coaches in rugby league history, having coached Canberra (1997-2001) and Queensland (2006-2015) after playing 46 test and World Cup matches for Australia's Kangaroos, 32 State of Origin matches for Queensland and captaining the Raiders to three national titles.
Before becoming Kangaroos coach in 2016, Meninga led the Queensland Maroons to their most successful period in Origin history, winning nine of his 10 series in charge.
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Meninga will relinquish his Australia national team coaching duties later this year in order to have 18 months to begin putting together the Bears' initial lineup of players.
'This is bigger than me,' Meninga said Friday. 'This new pioneering venture over to WA (Western Australia) and the opportunity to be involved in the growth of the game, to grow a club — the Perth Bears — is too good to refuse. I feel very honored, very nervous, and I think it's a huge responsibility.'
The sport's premier competition originated in Sydney but has expanded to include a team in New Zealand, a team in the Australian capital, Canberra, a team in the Victoria state capital, Melbourne, and four teams in Queensland state.
Perth Bears will enter the NRL from Australia's west coast before a team from rugby league-mad neighboring Pacific country Papua New Guinea, which is due to join in 2028 and make it a 19-team competition. The league's ambition is a 20-team format.
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