After being given the Raiders' captaincy, Meninga led Canberra to their first premiership in 1989 after overcoming the Balmain Tigers 19–14 in extra time in the Grand Final, the Raiders becoming not only the first non-Sydney team to win the premiership, but also the first team to win after finishing the minor round in 4th place. In the post season Meninga travelled with the Raiders to England and captained the team in their 30–18 loss to a Martin Offiah inspired Widnes in the 1989 World Club Challenge at Old Trafford. Meninga successfully returned to top level representative football in 1989, playing for Queensland in their State of Origin series whitewash of NSW (though he did suffer an eye socket injury in the second game in Sydney which kept him out of the third), before being selected to the mid-season tour of New Zealand. After playing in the centres for the first two test wins over the Kiwis, Meninga was moved to the second-row for the third test in Auckland with great effect as he scored a try and kicked one goal to add to his 5 goals in the first test and 2 in the second.