Mal Meninga has reportedly earmarked an early front-runner to join his coaching staff at the Perth Bears.
The 64-year-old was officially unveiled as the club’s inaugural coach last week and will step down from his role as Kangaroos boss.
Meninga hasn’t coached full-time at first grade level in well over two decades and has acknowledged his need for adequate assistance for the 2027 season and beyond.
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Matt King, Brad Arthur and Sam Burgess were all approached by the NRL to potentially work alongside Meninga, but all three turned down the opportunity.
Perth Bears coach Mal Meninga Getty
Instead, according to Nine’s Michael Chammas, current Panthers assistant and Samoa international coach Ben Gardiner has been sounded out to join Meninga.
“There’s conversations ongoing with Ben Gardiner – he’s won a couple of premierships under Ivan Cleary and he’s in the box seat to go over and work with Mal Meninga,” Chammas said on 100% Footy on Monday night.
“Ben Gardiner is one of those options and the Samoa link is something that will be important going forward. There’s talk that Payne Haas is going to be playing for Samoa and he’s had conversations with Ben Gardiner.
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“I’d imagine as a recruitment tool, if you’ve got someone who is coach at the Panthers and coaching at Samoa, it will help Mal Meninga.
“He’s highly regarded for what he knows off the field as well.”
Gardiner – who juggled coaching with school teaching at Marcellin College Randwick for many years – has been around the game for a long time and has worked at a number of clubs including the Rabbitohs and Tigers before moving to Penrith.
Samoa coach Ben Gardiner during last year’s tour of England. Getty
He also spent time working with the New Zealand Kiwis on the coaching staff, before landing the head coaching role with Samoa two years ago.
“He’s done a long apprenticeship,” Phil Gould said.
“I think we brought him down as a player … he came down to the Roosters as a player and didn’t really make it, I think he might have had some injuries.
“He’s probably been in the game for 22 or 23 years around some of the best coaches and best systems. He knows his stuff, he’s very highly regarded.”
