When Canberra Raiders legend Mal Meninga meet Tina Turner

Meninga can be seen shaking hands with Turner during the NSWRL's brilliantly successful ad campaign Simply The Best in 1990.

But it was right at the end of the ad and the filming for Meninga's spot was done right at the end of the day, meaning he didn't really get to know the queen of rock'n'roll.

Turner died in her home in Switzerland aged 83 on Thursday (AEST).

It was Turner's second ad for the NSWRL, with What You Get Is What You See leading the way in 1989.

But it was Simply The Best that became part of Australian sporting folklore.

Meninga felt he was just lucky to be part of the Raiders' golden era and co-captain of the reigning premiers at the time.

"I wasn't pretty enough to do the other stuff," he said of his ad appearance.

"I got to meet her briefly through the campaign. The handshake was at the back-end of the shooting day so it was a long wait around.

"I finally met her at the back-end of the day. I was dressed up, she was dressed up and we shook hands and moved on. That was it.

"I didn't get to meet her that much. A lot of people did meet her - Steve Roach and Andrew Ettingshausen, they loved the opportunity to meet her and have a bit of a yarn to her.

"She was down to earth they told me, but I didn't get that far, unfortunately. I wasn't one of the pretty boys."

Meninga praised the courage of the executives of the time, who were led by then ARL chief executive John Quayle.

Quayle's assistant Nicky Braithwaite knew Turner's manager Roger Davies, an Australian.

The game was trying to change its image from being a blokey sport and they wanted to make it more family-friendly and more attractive to women.

The rest was history with the first ad proving a success, but the second one becoming an icon of Australian sport.

"There was great work done by the executive of the game and it was a bit of a gamble at the time, I remember," Meninga said.

"A lot of people were critical of spending that sort of money on an American singer and buying the rights to her songs and getting her to do the ads.

"But at the end of the day it was fantastic to be involved with the campaign, obviously playing in those days, the excitement that ad generated - particularly in kids and women.

"It was a great era for rugby league. And I was just fortunate enough to be involved with the Raiders at that time, who were really successful.

"There's nothing but fond memories, honestly, through that period and the ad was part of a resurgence of the game of rugby league."

Such was the impact of the ad Turner became synonymous with the game.

She was invited back to sing her hit song The Best, which was used for the ad, at the 1993 grand final and she rerecorded it with Australian rock star Jimmy Barnes.

The NRL then brought it back for a marketing campaign in 2020 to celebrate its 30^th anniversary.

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"It dragged us along with it," Meninga said.

"She's an icon of global music, really, the queen of soul and rock'n'roll.

"The songs were synonymous with the time and to have her sing her songs as part of a marketing campaign and promotions was fraught with danger, but at the end of the day it proved what great administrators John Quayle and [ARL chairman] Ken Arthurson were."

NRL ROUND 13

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs at Homebush, 7.35pm.

Rabbitohs team: 1. Blake Taaffe, 2. Alex Johnston, 3. Isaiah Tass, 4. Campbell Graham, 5. Taane Milne 6. Cody Walker, 7. Lachlan Ilias, 8. Tevita Tatola, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Hame Sele, 11. Michael Chee Kam, 12. Jacob Host, 13. Liam Knight. Interchange: 14. Jed Cartwright, 15. Tallis Duncan, 16. Shaq Mitchell, 17. Daniel Suluka-Fifita. Reserves: 18. Richard Kennar, 19. Tyrone Munro, 20. Peter Mamouzelos, 21, Keaon Koloamatangi, 22. Dean Hawkins.

Raiders team: 1. Sebastian Kris, 2. Albert Hopoate, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Matthew Timoko, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Josh Papali'i, 9. Zac Woolford, 10. Pasami Saulo, 11. Corey Harawira-Naera, 12. Corey Horsburgh, 13. Joseph Tapine. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Nick Cotric, 17. Ata Mariota. Reserves: 18. Hohepa Puru, 19. Danny Levi, 20. Matt Frawley, 21. Harley Smith-Shields, 22. Peter Hola.

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