Wow I never thought I’d see the day
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Wow I never thought I’d see the day
Rugby League Immortal and Australian Test Coach Mal Meninga has joined the Gold Coast Titans as the club’s business-wide, Head of Performance and Culture, to help drive a winning environment across the entire organisation.
Mr Meninga, named in July as the code’s 13th Immortal, will move to the Gold Coast from Canberra with wife Amanda and their three young children to join the Titans.
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said a condition of the appointment was that Meninga’s national coaching duties would continue to have top priority.
“Mal is required throughout the year to promote the game, providing mentoring and assistance to young players and to assist with the elite level of the game,” Mr Greenberg said.
“But since there are no Kangaroos matches until the end of the 2019 season he will have capacity to devote to the Titans’ role.
“It is crucial that we do all we can to protect and develop rugby league in the heartland of the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales and I have no doubt Mal will help achieve that.”
Mr Greenberg said he had met with the Titans, Mr Meninga and Mr Meninga’s management Parade Sports (a division of Sony Music Entertainment) to ensure conflicts of interests were avoided with the new role.
“The NRL needs a strong team on the Gold Coast and Mal’s track record of success -including building winning team cultures at State and national level - will help achieve that.”
Dennis Watt, Executive Chairman of the Gold Coast Titans, said the club’s recruitment of Mr Meninga into such a senior and over-arching role would be a foundation stone for the Gold Coast’s new direction under the new ownership team of the Frizelle and Kelly families.
Darryl and Joanne Kelly, with Brett and Rebecca Frizelle won the bid to take over the Titans in December last year after three years of NRL ownership.
“To have someone like Mal Meninga, with everything that he has achieved in the game, be so excited about joining the Titans is a terrific show of faith and belief in the strength, leadership and potential of the Gold Coast,” Mr Watt said.
“Mal was an outstanding player over his career with Brisbane Souths, Canberra, St Helens, Queensland and Australia.
“But what he has been able to achieve, and continues to achieve, in his coaching career with Queensland and Australia, shows that he is a master at creating winning cultures. He unifies and ensures a total buy-in from the people around him.”
Mr Meninga said he had jumped at the opportunity to join the Titans and to contribute to the growth and success of the club and to rugby league generally in northern New South Wales and Gold Coast.
“I can feel there is something special building at the Titans. The NRL needs rugby league and the Titans to be strong in the area. It is one of the game’s heartlands and it is no secret that it is under threat from rival codes who are investing heavily to own the territory.’
“I want to see all young kids in the Titans’ catchment area - boys and girls - growing up aspiring to play for the Titans, for their respective states and their country.”
Titans coach Garth Brennan said he was looking forward to working with Meninga to help build on the growing momentum within the club.
“Mal is a legend of the game and clearly has much to offer with his insights on leadership and winning cultures. He will be a great sounding board for myself and the coaching staff.”
Mr Meninga’s role would include helping to drive the commercial strength of the business as part of ensuring the Titans were competing on an equal footing with the heavyweight NRL clubs.
Mr Meninga said the decision to move to the Coast was not an easy one for himself and wife Amanda who have three children - Zach, 6, Elijah, 5, and Eva, 3.
“However, the opportunity to move and to work alongside a leadership team of Darryl Kelly, Rebecca Frizelle, Dennis Watt and coach Garth Brennan left me in no doubt that this was a chance too good to pass up.
“I have said on several occasions I have no desire to return to NRL club coaching and that remains the case. But working with the Titans - the youngest club in the NRL - in this role allows me to contribute to the game at club level with new and different challenges,” he said.
Mr Meninga said he was very grateful to Todd Greenberg, the NRL and the ARLC for their advice and guidance.
“Coaching Australia is a great source of pride for me and it will continue to be my priority. The Titans are happy for me to continue in that role and I have no doubt I can combine the two roles successfully,” he said.
Denis Handlin AO, Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment and Director Parade Sports said:
“I have tremendous respect for Mal both personally and professionally, and his incomparable achievements on and off the field.
“Mal has outstanding leadership qualities and has been instrumental in establishing winning cultures and performance in many different environments. He brings proven capability and a track record to the Titans.
“I have seen Mal’s leadership qualities first hand in my role as a mentor of the Queensland State of Origin and Australian teams for 13 years.
“I know Mal is thrilled with the opportunity to work across the entire Titans’ organisation in this area.
“I would like to personally thank and commend Todd Greenberg, Darryl Kelly and Dennis Watt for the collaborative way in which they have worked together,” Mr Handlin said.
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.
Wow this is possibly our biggest signing ever. Will be huge for us and is another step to building a professional and winning culture. Welcome Mal!
Just what the doctor ordered ... go the big fella!
Excellent news.. Hopefully this nonsense about Walters can finally be put to bed. :doh:
Welcome aboard, Mal! :thumbsup:
Wow. A huge signing for us. I remember Mal saying in a few articles a while ago that he wanted to be a part of the Titans .... looks like it’s happened. Well done Titans and welcome Mal. Also one point for me is that he has moved his family from Canberra to the GC so for mine he looks like he is buying in completely.
I now eagerly await as to who our new CEO will be.
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I wonder if it is a similar role like Gould at Penrith?
Massive news on Mal, great acquisition
yeah love this so much.
and performance and culture are different but both very important.
WE would have no where near the training standards that the elite teams do, and most teams dont even know they arent training at a high level - Mal oversaw the most elite collection of players for 10 years and how they operate.
I actually shed some masculine tears when i saw it.
also - did anyone see the image of Mal and dread the words 'ambassador'? i would have vommed in my mouth.
So Proud and pleased its a genuine role that will provide actual outcomes for our club. he is a draw for sponsors, players, coaching talent....you name it and Mal is about the biggest name around.
and behind closed doors he will tell it like it is.
wrapt
Yep I thought “ambassador” as I read it with a sinking feeling then ... awesomeness!
I would worry if it was Castle on several levels not the least of which are: she can’t keep a job and the parlous state she left the Dessie’s Dogs in.
Castle has been outstanding in her last two jobs!! The Dogs and the ARU which is now broke and going backwards under her watch. God help wherever she ends up next.
Has there been any comment about when the position might be filled because I have missed it if there has been. I hadn't heard the rumour about Castle.
This thread starts about Meninga and now it's about Castle - just a slight change in Rugby League ability levels!
From the CM September 21 written by Badel
Castle may jump to Titans
COULD Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle be a shock contender for the vacant Gold Coast Titans CEO gig?
The Titans are on the hunt for a new chief executive following the NRL’s poaching of Graham Annesley to head up its football department.
Castle is a close friend of Titans co-owner Rebecca Frizelle, who rates Castle incredibly highly as a sports administrator.
Castle left the Canterbury Bulldogs CEO role late last year to take over from Bill Pulver as the boss of Rugby Australia and has had a challenging tenure in the role.
The Wallabies are the lowest they have ever been ranked, and Castle has had to deal with the unprecedented case of Israel Folau’s religious beliefs.
Blindside spies spotted Frizelle and husband Brett in the Cbus Super Stadium corporate area for last weekend’s Wallabies-Argentina Test match as guests of Castle.
The biggest impediment to the Titans snaring Castle would be cash as she would likely have to take a six-figure pay cut to replace Annesley.
The Frizelles weren’t the only NRL figures at the Wallabies Test. Cowboys coach Paul Green was also getting about the Gold Coast as well as the Broncos’ elimination final against the Dragons.
^^^
Thanks for posting Bods. I missed that at the time.
I hope like hell that there is nothing in this. I have a few mates who are strong Dogs supporters and they reckon that she was useless. It's a bit different being the boss of New Zealand netball to the last two roles she has been paid for.
Surely it's just Badel drawing a longbow once again.
I wonder whether maybe Scott Sattler might apply for CEO
Call me old fashioned but I am delighted to have the Kangaroos coach as part of our club.
And many forumers will agree that it goes a great way towards laying some Queensland roots.
He has proven himself building the modern Queensland culture and making the Maroons a very successful outfit.
He also doesn't tolerate fools.
I also believe he will help sign some young talent to our club.
We got an Immortal at the Titans! :thumbsup:
Raelene Castle? Wasn't she the one that drove the Dogs into a salary cap nightmare and then jumped ship which will take them years to get out of?
Just checking.
I seem to remember signing a coach to a three year deal then a couple of weeks later trying to sack him too.
Diehard union fan here and absolutely **** No to castle. Her latest move of giving another YEAR for our underperforming national coach to prove himself when the team and play styles continues to regress under him says it all. Annesleys replacement is absolutely critical to the future of this club. No more false starts! Every move this club makes needs to push us forward.
I’m wondering whether anyone will stick their neck out and suggest someone they’d like to be the CEO....
If Castle got the job it would undo all of the goodwill and positive news of the last few days. Surely it's a gee up. Make it a merit based appointment.
You’d think Denis Watt would have someone in mind.
i think i made a lengthy post advocating him a few months ago, and i recommend him IN SPITE of being a forum member, not because of it.
His background would be great. and the beauty is, he may be the next CEO and we wouldn't even know it...unless its Castle lol.
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i agree.
Ferris....bad signing, Mal....good signing, CEO decision is the swinging vote and we know if Ferris was an outlier decision, and we are on a good track,or the Mal decision was the outlier and we are still clueless.
Gee guys my wife and I saw this and my heart raced ... all the way to the bar.
I'd love to put up my hand but it would have needed to be ten years ago and ten days ago I opened a new C-Level academy in Beijing. As it is, lets just hope that we get the right person, and I'm confident we will, so we don't have to scratch around for old farts like me.
By the way, thanks for the vote of confidence, let's get the podcast going ... I reckon our first guest should be the 'big fella' himself.
I can assure you DB that netball, great game that it may be, hasn't been my bag since I used to sit courtside as a 13 year old, look up and wonder what I was supposed to be looking for.
Peter Parr would be my choice if he was interested
Oh OK, I was unaware of that, DB. Good to see you didn't let the opportunity pass us by then.
Fair enough, Titanic. Understandably you got commitments elsewhere. But as we know, your wealth of knowledge of the Game and of the Coast is hard to come by, regardless if you're a old fart or not. Those key elements would be the icing on the cake considering how we're structured these days. Hopefully the next CEO has some grasp in those areas.
To be honest, with the wealth of business management and entrepreneurial experience we have in the Frizelle and Kelly Gangs I would be plumbing for youth and vigour. Mentoring is way underplayed these days but that’s where we could excell and who better to learn from?
Some qualified but slightly underdone dynamo would be a lot easier to mold into a formidable Titans-specific CEO rather than trying to fit some aging non-vested interest into our model.
Satts Junior could well be that man or someone like Locky or Ryan James in a few years time. Conversely we don’t need another caretaking fixer like Annesley. We are paddling hard to catch our wave, let’s not miss it.
I would be very surprised if the owners would relinquish the reins completely at this crucial stage of their investment anyway. The safer option would be to appoint a kindred soul, a ‘believer’ prepared to offer a contemporary perspective while taking advice instead of a loose-cannon like Searle.
I do remember hearing rumours a couple of years ago about an ex player who was involved in the corporate side of the club wanting the opportunity.
He was told he didn't have the experience and then left to take up a CEO role in private enterprise to try gain the experience.
Very happy with big Mal getting a gig with the Titans. Shows a new level of respect from the old school guard. To be honest, I'm not sure what he will do from a performance point but he can certainly bring a winning culture to the club.
What about the original? Paul Broughton?
Hey Whizza, long time no read ... I reckon he’s paid for himself already a la The Hayne Pain but I really do believe we should get a real go-getter in there who can be led by the owners. The alternative opens itself to a Penn situation.
This is a great article by Mal. What a bloke to have around our club!
The core values of our game have taken a real hit over the past few months, so maybe we need to articulate them better to all involved with rugby league.
Last year the NRL and ARL Commission decided to make a stand and set out four principles – four core values – we should all be living and working by: (being) Disciplined, United, Positive, Inclusive.
These are the things we all should live by and be judged on if we are involved with this great game. These are the new set of beliefs that must surround us all.
Discipline covers how you act, how you behave, how you make decisions on behalf of an organisation that has given you a lifeline, a lifestyle, an opportunity to be successful.
You can't expect to be a player at the top level of our game without discipline. That means from the very basics of performing at training, to playing matches, to what you do away from the game. Discipline runs through all those.
If you don't have the discipline to prepare well, you won't have success as a player. If you don't have discipline off the field for your friends, your teammates, your family, you don't have respect and integrity.
And I don't buy the argument that social media makes the environment today much more difficult for players. Social media is the norm these days – get used to it. That's what we've got to live with and people understand that you're always only a second away of having a photo taken of you or a video.
In that accountability, there must always be the need for players to look after each other. Yes, we're all accountable for our own actions, but it's important we look after our mates and protect them as well – talk to them and help them, care about them.
The underlining factor is that as players we want to protect the game because it's important to us. We are the custodians right now for the game's future. So we need to care about the game.
I use these same core values when I select footy teams. The Test team has the RISE – Respect, Inspire, Selflessness, Excellence – concept but the game down to the grassroots level has this new set of beliefs that dictate the decisions we make and how we act.
We have some really strong education and advancement programs in our game. We are renowned and lauded for by other sports for these off-field programs about state of mind, treatment of women. We do a good job and we will keep at it.
But here we are today with players involved in legal action, or being penalised by the game for their behaviour.
I don't buy the argument that social media makes the environment today much more difficult for players. Social media is the norm these days – get used to it.
So we have to stand strong. It is black-and-white, there are no grey areas here.
If you're looking at the actions of players, you have to ask are they looking after the game? Are they mindful of who they're hurting? Are they treating the game in a positive light?
Every time a player goes out, it is an opportunity to market the game. And that's the way it should be.
If players transgress, then obviously there is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
But I firmly believe the player needs to be suspended straight away, and then go through due process.
https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/02/09/...epay-the-game/
Good piece by Mal. Our game can't keep taking this damage from its moronic privileged whelps.
Suspended first is right ... it’s not about guilty or innocent, the courts will look after that, it’s about protecting the game.
Mal Meninga outlines his plan for the Titans while assuring coach Garth Brennan he won’t interfere
https://www.couriermail.com.au/
Immortal Mal Meninga has delivered his first piece of work to Gold Coast Titans and declared he would not be overruling coach Garth Brennan.
The Sunday Mail can reveal Meninga presented the dossier to Titans management, highlighting his take on the club and where it needs to improve.
“Mal’s Manifesto” included the history of rugby league on the Gold Coast, an analysis of the Titans’ structure and how performance can lift.
The Kangaroos coach was last year inducted into the exclusive *Immortals and won nine *Origin series at the helm of Queensland.
The Titans pulled off a coup in signing Meninga as the club’s head of performance and culture late last year in a bid to transform the struggling franchise into a premiership contender.
Meninga, who relocated to the Gold Coast from Canberra last week, said the Titans had the potential to become a powerhouse club.
“I learnt there is a lot of honesty at the club,” Meninga told The Sunday Mail.
“With that you can improve the organisation and hopefully improve it quickly.
“Everyone understands where they sit as far as success goes. The headspace is in the right area. They all care about the organisation and have a great work ethic.
“We’ve got to work on a common purpose and set of beliefs that is going to be the foundation for the club going forward. Everyone in the organisation has had an input into that.”
After commuting from Canberra for two months, Meninga and his young family have moved permanently to the Gold Coast.
Now settled, Meninga is branching further into the Gold Coast’s football operations and will work more with Brennan.
The Titans finished 14th last season in Brennan’s first year at the club and have only played finals football once (2016) in the past eight *seasons.
Despite having serious clout, Meninga insisted he was not at the club to overrule Brennan.
“I just want to help,” Meninga said.
“That’s my simple mantra. I want to help them to be better at everything they do. That’s what my job is.
“Everyone can improve collectively.
“We’ve got to have a mindset about wanting to improve every day. That’s part of our purpose.
“If we want to have sustained success like the top clubs in this competition there are certain things we need to do on a regular basis.
“The coaching staff are doing some really good work here under Garth’s leadership.
“I’m here to help, not take over.”
Meninga helped build a Maroons dynasty by focusing as much on what happens away from the field as on it.
He instigated the RISE – Respect, Inspire, Selflessness, Excellence – mantra with the Kangaroos and is working on delivering the Titans their own set of values.
“Every organisation has a purpose and set of beliefs that is them,” he said.
“That’s the way they operate and how they make decisions.
“I believe the things you do outside your work days are just as important as what you do through your work days.
“Everything you do beyond training and club commitments … what you do at home and how you lead your life is a really important part of your preparation to get it right on game day.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know all the players and hopefully having a positive impact on their lives and footy lives.
“They’re setting standards that will hold them in good stead when times get tough in games.”
The appointment of Meninga would not have happened without the approval from club owners the Frizelle and Kelly families.
Darryl Kelly said Meninga had delivered an honest assessment of the Titans and it was clear standards had to lift at the club, on and off the field.
“We’ve always known the club has not performed at the highest level,” Kelly said.
“The idea behind appointing Mal was to lift the expectations within the whole business, not only the playing group.
“We’re happy with what he’s done so far. We have to not only put it down on paper but also deliver it in reality. It’s about lifting expectations.
“People perform to a level in business and on the field to what they see as being acceptable.
“What was acceptable in the past is not acceptable anymore.
“The standards have got to be lifted. Everybody (other clubs) is in the same position at the moment. We all think we’ve had good pre-seasons and are better than we were last year.
“But someone is going to come first and someone is going to come last.
“Our squad is talented, there’s no doubt about that, they’ve now got to play to their potential.”
Professional rugby league has had a turbulent history on the Gold Coast.
The Titans are the fifth *incarnation of a league franchise on the Coast in the past 30 years following the demise of the Giants, Seagulls, Gladiators and Chargers.
While the Titans have only been around since 2007, and suffered a dramatic dip in *supporters since their successful early years, Meninga said that the club had to tap into the *region’s rugby league history.
“The Gold Coast rugby league community has had a lot of success since it started in the early 1900s,” he said.
“There is a rich history and a lot of success during that time.
“This is a new organisation with new ownership and new ways of doing things.
“It’s only 12 months old. Everyone is looking forward to improving.”