New Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga believes the 2017 World Cup would serve as a fitting farewell for ageing Maroons stars Johnathan Thurston, Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk.

Meninga was officially unveiled as the successor to national coach Tim Sheens, ending a tenure as Maroons mentor that netted an unprecedented nine State of Origin series titles over the past decade.

The former Australian captain will move to Sydney for what is a dedicated but part-time appointment that will take him through until the end of 2019.

Having enjoyed so much success with the Queensland side, there were the inevitable questions whether he would favour Maroons players at the selection table. But the man dubbed "Big Mal" said there would be no conflicts of interest and expected NSW coach Laurie Daley to share information after he stepped down from the Maroons.