One of the Titans' newest recruits, Mal Meninga, has tonight been elevated to 'Legend' status at the 24th Annual Queensland Sports Awards.
The Awards', run by QSport, are the representative body for organised, affiliated sport in Queensland first introduced the Hall of Fame in 2009, which Meninga was a part of and after earlier this year becoming a Rugby League Immortal, he has tonight joined another exclusive list.
The black-tie event held at the Brisbane Convention Centre recognises the sporting achievements of many Queenslanders, with Meninga tonight being named as the 18th 'Legend'.
Meninga joins fellow rugby league players Arthur Beetson and Wally Lewis on the list that also includes the likes of Allan Border, Mick Doohan, Susie O'Neill and Rod Laver.
Mal's playing and coaching career
Few in rugby league have been able to match Meninga's record as player and a coach and in recognition of his work for the game and the community he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1994 and named as a Queensland Great in 2016.
As the dominant centre of his generation, he played in a remarkable nine grand finals for Brisbane Souths and Canberra, winning five (1981 and 1985 with Souths; 1989-90 and 1994 with the Raiders.)
He was captain for all three Canberra titles. Meninga also won the premiership and the Lancashire County Cup with St Helens during his stint in the English competition in the 1984-85 season
Meninga played in the inaugural State of Origin match in 1980, kicking seven goals from seven attempts on his 20th birthday in Queensland's historic 20-10 win.
He would go on to captain Queensland in three series from 1992-94 and retired with records (since surpassed) for most appearances in Origin history and most points scored in Origin history.
For Australia, he played a then-record 46 games for the Kangaroos between 1982 and 1994, scoring 21 tries and 278 points.
Meninga captained Australia between 1990 and 1994 and is the only man in history to play on four Kangaroos' tours (1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994.) In July this year, he was inducted as the 13th member of "The Immortals", the prestigious and exclusive group chosen as the greatest to have played rugby league in Australia.
He is a member of the Rugby League Hall of Fame, and during the Centenary celebrations in 2008, Meninga was named in the Queensland and Australian teams of the century.
As a coach, he had four seasons with Canberra from 1997-2001 but it was in the representative arena where he excelled in winning 9 out of 10 series as Queensland State of Origin coach from 2006-2015.
In taking over as Kangaroos' coach in 2016, Meninga began another era of dominance for the national side, culminating with victory in the 2018 Rugby League World Cup.
