Meninga's crusade to restore international rugby league to its former glory in Australia has enjoyed a victory even bigger than the crushing Four Nations final victory over New Zealand.
Kangaroo Tours are back.
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Fairfax Media understands the first Australian tour of Britain since 2001 will be announced within a fortnight, for either 2019 or 2020. Officials from the two countries agreed in principle to the resurrection of one of the game's most treasured institutions in meetings around the RLIF Congress in Liverpool last week.
Great Britain may also end a decade of dormancy for the incoming Australian tour, replacing England for fully-fledged Ashes Tests. The last extended Kangaroo Tour was in 1994.
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"We wanted to win it and show everybody back home what it means to us to play for the Kangaroos," said captain Cameron Smith after the
34-8 win over New Zealand.
"We want everyone back home to get behind this team, get behind the international game. Forty thousand people here without the home team, that's a fantastic result, a fantastic atmosphere for us.
Ambassadors: Cooper Cronk, Mal Meninga, Cameron Smith and Darius Boyd have restored international rugby league's former glory. Photo: Alex Livesey
"It's where these games need to be played, in the big stadiums.
"We spoke about how we wanted to go about it, rebuild the international game and put it back on top where it needs to be. We've made some pretty good steps throughout this whole season to do that."
Two for the good: Josh Dugan scored a double in the Four Nations final against New Zealand. Photo: Martin Rickett
Meninga's 2016 side evoked memories of some of the teams he spearheaded in the northern hemisphere in 1982, 1986 and 1994 as they played with precision, extravagant skill and occasionally even grace to rack up a 24-0 halftime lead at Anfield.
The win lifted Australia back to the top of rugby league's world rankings for the first time in two years.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...after-success-in-england-20161120-gstlfy.html