WHEN Mal Meninga was appointed as Test coach nearly 12 months ago — he embarked on a journey to restore and uphold the traditions of what it means to represent the Kangaroos jersey.

Having represented his country on 46 occasions, including four successful Kangaroo tours to the UK — he was always the best candidate for that job.

With the backing of the NRL, including chairman John Grant, Mal has already lifted the profile and brand of the Kangaroos.

He’s backed up his words with actions, starting with a scheme to get players bursting with pride to throw on a green and gold jersey.

THE JERSEY SCHEME

Mal has an acute understanding of the importance of milestones and achievements of the players (past and present) and he has already created some traditions that have elevated the honour of making the Test team.

This was demonstrated perfectly when he decided to move the annual Kangaroos reunion back a week so the former players and current players could assemble for lunch to help launch the Four Nations tournament.

FOUR NATIONS SCOUT: Roos’ $170m edge, Wayne dismisses Mal

At this event, the former players who have achieved significant milestones such as Darren Lockyer — the Kangaroos games record holder with 59 — were presented with special jumpers.

With each milestone reached in the green and gold jersey, there is now a special Kangaroos chevron embroidered on the sleeve to mark its significance.

Cameron Smith has silver insignia on his sleeve for playing more than 40 games. Source: AAP

Reaching 20 games will be marked by a white kangaroo, 30 is marked by bronze, 40 is marked by silver, and 50 is marked by gold.

A special purple jumper (a combination of NSW blue and Queensland maroon) will be custom made for anyone who plays 60 games, with skipper Cameron Smith, currently sitting on 45 Tests, the most likely of today’s players to be the first to hit that mark.

OTHER PRESTIGE GESTURES

In addition to the jersey initiative, Mal got the current players at the lunch to present all the past players at the event with a special Kangaroos book which recognises the history and achievements of the Kangaroos, their personal number and their contribution to the Test team.

In another fitting tribute, Darren Lockyer was invited into the team dinner (prior to the last Test) to present Sam Thaiday with his special jumper to recognise his 30th Test appearance — which sits proudly alongside his 30th Origin jumper.

Locky also presented the debutants with their jumpers and he spoke to the team about his first Test appearance and the level of dedication it takes to play at the highest level and what the expectations were.

Mal Meninga is trying to change the Kangaroos’ culture. Source: News Corp Australia

THE MILESTONE MEN

In other remarkable milestones, Smith is set to play his 46th Test this week against Scotland — which will equal Mal’s record — and he has set his sights on playing at least 50 Tests, potentially culminating in the World Cup on home soil in 2017.

Smith will be playing alongside his Storm teammate and 2016 Dally M Medallist Cooper Cronk, who will play his 30th Test this week, which is an unbelievable achievement.

Greg Inglis, who was man of the match against the Kiwis, has now played 36 Tests and shows no signs of slowing down, nor does Johnathan Thurston who is set to play his 35th Test against the Kiwis on November 5.

His Cowboys and Queensland teammate Matt Scott will play his 20th game on the same night as Darius Boyd, who has an unbeaten record in a Test Jumper.

The tradition will continue this week when James Maloney, Jake Trbojevic, Jake Friend, Matt Moylan and Justin O’Neill make their debuts against Scotland at Hull on Friday night (UK time).

HOW IT TRANSLATES TO PERFORMANCE

While Mal has made some significant changes to the Kangaroos culture away from the field, he has already improved the performance on it.

His first two Tests at the helm have been two strong wins over the world number one ranked Kiwis.

Having worked alongside Mal with Queensland for a number of years, he has a great knack of bringing representative teams together quickly and gets them to buy into the values and behaviours that are required to play at the elite level.

He has the unique ability to identify talent and to see what is required for the team now and what is required in the future.

There can be no better example of this than the introduction of Valentine Holmes who was overlooked by Queensland for a minor off-field issue and brought into the Test team on the back of his outstanding year with the Sharks.

His debut against the Kiwis was of the highest order and he looks set for a long and distinguished career in the green and gold jumper.