SIR ALEX FERGUSON was comfortably able to maintain his position on his perch last season.

The chaos at Chelsea meant Carlo Ancelotti rarely had the confidence, Liverpool under Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish weren’t in the right position, Arsene Wenger seemed a shadow of his former self and Roberto Mancini was off the pace.

But the bar has been raised from an unexpected source this week – the coach of Queensland rugby league, and former St Helens star, Mal Meninga.

Big Mal, is no stranger to conspiracy theories. Nor does he shy away from giving full, public vent to them.

At the end of the three-game State of Origin series he did just that. Comparing his Queensland side with the city of Brisbane, which was devastated by floods six months ago, he said: “The Queensland team have managed to restore their glory despite the almost irresistible surge of forces beyond their control, through commitment and pride.

“Like the city, the team once again stands triumphant, their success hiding the filth and rats that continue to linger in the sewers and dark corners, and masking the scars left by the menace that tried to cut it down.”

Meninga went on: “It was a victory against the very rats and filth that tried to poison a monumental team with lies, personal attacks, arrogance and disrespect. The Queensland team this year found itself the victim of a smear campaign that tainted the entire code of rugby league, and it came from the enemy within the game itself. They are the faceless men of influence who claim their agenda is to benefit the game. Really, their only agenda is to benefit themselves.”

It is worth remembering that Queensland won. The mind boggles at his reaction if they had lost. There you go, Sir Alex, beat that.