David Mead (rugby league)

David Mead
Personal information
Born David Moore
(1988-11-04) 4 November 1988
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 94 kg (14 st 11 lb; 207 lb)
Playing information
Position Wing, Fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009–16 Gold Coast Titans 147 67 0 0 268
2017– Brisbane Broncos 0 0 0 0 0
Total 147 67 0 0 268
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–16 Papua New Guinea 9 5 0 0 20
2014–15 Country NSW 2 3 0 0 12
As of 12 September 2016
Source: [1]

David Mead (born David Moore on 4 November 1988) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League (NRL). A Papua New Guinea international and New South Wales Country Origin representative wing or fullback, he represented Papua New Guinea at the 2008 and 2013 World Cups. He previously played for the Gold Coast Titans where he played 147 games.

Background

Born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea as David Moore, Mead moved to Australia as a 12-year old and attended Kadina High School and Trinity Catholic College in Lismore, New South Wales.[2] Mead played junior football with Lismore Marist Brothers before being signed by the Gold Coast Titans.[3] Mead played for the Titans NYC team in 2008. Mead was named in the Papua New Guinea squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[4] Between the 2008 World Cup and the 2009 NRL season, Mead changed his surname to honour his aunt's family who raised him after moving to Australia.[2][5]

Playing career

2009

On 30 January 2009, Mead signed a contract extension with the Gold Coast Titans after turning down an offer from the Sydney Roosters.[6] In Round 13 of the 2009 NRL season, Mead made his NRL debut for the Titans against the St. George Illawarra Dragons off the interchange bench in the Titans 28-24 win at Skilled Park.[7] In his next appearance in Round 16 against the New Zealand Warriors, Mead made his first appearance in the starting line-up, scoring his first and second NRL career tries in the Titans 28-12 win at Skilled Park.[8] Mead finished his debut year in the NRL with 14 matches and 8 tries. He was part of the Papua New Guinea squad for the 2009 Pacific Cup,[9][10] and was named their player of the year by the Rugby League International Federation.[11]

2010

A regular on the wing in 2010, Mead was one of the club's leaders in many statistics before a foot injury saw him miss the rest of the season from Round 16 onwards. Mead said, "It is pretty frustrating because I have worked so hard and to get halfway through the year now and it is all just gone, just like that."[12] In Round 12 against the Sydney Roosters, Mead scored a hatrick of tries in the Titans 30-16 loss.[13] Mead played in 15 matches and scored 6 tries during 2010.

2011

Despite the Titans poor record in 2011, Mead played in every match and was the club's top tryscorer with 16 tries from 24 appearances. In Round 22 against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Mead scored what some considered the best try of the year when he collected a Scott Prince cross-over kick on the fly behind his back one handed to score in the 20-16 win at Toyota Stadium. Assistant coach Steve Murphy said, "I can't believe he caught that ball. It was just one of those freak things, those amazing things. He's got those in him, Dave."[14]

2012

Mead played in 20 matches and scored 10 tries for the Titans in the 2012 NRL season. On 6 December 2012, Mead extended his contract with the Titans for 4 years till the end of the 2016 season.[15]

2013

In Round 23 against the North Queensland Cowboys, Mead became the first Gold Coast Titans player to score 50 tries for the club during their 22-10 loss at 1300SMILES Stadium.[16] Mead played in 16 matches and scored 11 tries in 2013. In October, Mead represented Papua New Guinea in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, playing in all 3 matches at fullback.

2014

In January, Mead was selected for the Titans inaugural 2014 Auckland Nines squad.[17] Mead was selected for the Country Origin team in the annual City vs Country Origin match after sorting out his eligibility for New South Wales.[18] Mead played at fullback and scored 2 tries in the 26-26 all draw in Dubbo.[19] In Round 11 against the New Zealand Warriors, Mead played his 100th NRL career match in the 24-16 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.[20] Mead finished the 2014 NRL season with him playing 18 matches and scoring 4 tries, his worst try-scoring effort to date.

2015

Mead was again a member of the Titans' Auckland Nines squad.[21] He also returned for New South Wales Country, playing at fullback and scoring a try in their 34-22 win at Wagga Wagga.[22][23] In Round 25 against the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Mead eclipsed Kevin Gordon's record as the Gold Coast Titans all-time highest try-scorer with 60 tries, overtaking Gordon's 58 tries for the club by scoring 2 tries in the Titans 28-26 win at Cbus Super Stadium.[24][25] He scored 5 tries from 22 matches for the 2015 NRL season.

2016

On 29 January 2016, Mead was named in the Titans 2016 Auckland Nines squad.[26] On 7 May 2015, Mead captained Papua New Guinea in the 2016 Melanesian Cup Test against Fiji, where he played at fullback in the 24-22 win at Parramatta Stadium.[27] On 10 September 2016, it was announced that Mead would sign with the Brisbane Broncos from 2017 on a one-year deal.[28]

Statistics

Season Team Pld T G FG Pts
2009 Gold Coast Titans 14 8 0 0 32
2010 15 6 0 0 24
2011 24 16 0 0 64
2012 20 10 0 0 40
2013 16 11 0 0 44
2014 18 4 0 0 16
2015 22 5 0 0 20
2016 18 7 0 0 28
2017 Brisbane Broncos 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 147 67 0 0 268

(* denotes season still competing)

Honours

Debut
Papua New Guinea Kumuls
PNG Test Debut – 25 October 2008
Gold Coast Titans
First Grade Debut – 8 June 2009
Awards
Preceded by
Award Introduced		 Gold Coast Titans
"The Preston"
2012 		Succeeded by
William Zillman
Records
Gold Coast Titans
Most Tries (60)
Gold Coast Titans
Most Tries in a Season (16)

References

  1. ↑ "David Mead - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
  2. 1 2 Mascord, Steve (3 May 2013). "MEN OF THE WORLD Two: DAVID MEAD (Papua New Guinea & Australia)". stevemascord.com.
  3. ↑ Blomberg, Matt (4 June 2010). "Mead on Raider alert". Northern Star.
  4. ↑ "Wilshere handed Kumuls captaincy". BBC News. 14 October 2008.
  5. ↑ Marshall, Matt (30 January 2009). "David Mead, Esi Tonga, Kevin Gordon stay at Coast". Courier Mail.
  6. ↑ "Titans Youngsters Stay Loyal". Daily Telegraph. 30 January 2009.
  7. ↑ Clark, Laine (8 June 2009). "Titans Defeat Illawarra 28-24". Fox Sports.
  8. ↑ Herning, Wayne (27 June 2009). "Young Guns Inspire Depleted Gold Coast Titans to Big Win over Warriors". Fox Sports.
  9. ↑ mlipen (11 October 2009). "Kumuls Named". The National.
  10. ↑ "PNG and Fiji finalise squads for Pacific Cup". NRL.com. 19 October 2009.
  11. ↑ Webster, Andrew (10 November 2009). "Hayne Named Player of the Year". Daily Telegraph.
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ Nicolussi, Christian (1 June 2010). "Sydney Roosters beat Gold Coast Titans 30-16 in NRL round 12 match". Courier Mail.
  14. ↑ Rayner, Tristan (7 August 2011). "David Mead scores incredible NRL try". The Roar.
  15. ↑ titans.com.au (6 December 2012). "Mead re-signs with Titans until 2016". Zero Tackle.
  16. ↑ Badel, Peter (18 August 2013). "North Queensland Cowboys beat Gold Coast Titans 22-10 in NRL round 23". Daily Telegraph.
  17. ↑ Meyn, Travis (22 January 2014). "Gold Coast Titans to unleash their best team against the Auckland Nines". Gold Coast Bulletin.
  18. ↑ Badel, Peter; Meyn, Travis (30 April 2014). "David Mead a Kumul chameleon after the Papua New Guinea international changes eligibility". Courier Mail.
  19. ↑ Toohey, Barry (4 May 2014). "Hulking Centre Jamal Idris Stars in Thrilling City/Country Draw". Daily Telegraph.
  20. ↑ Balym, Todd (24 May 2014). "Dave Taylor shines as Gold Coast Titans keep sinking following loss to Warriors". Courier Mail.
  21. ↑ Luca, Rocco (20 January 2015). "Titans name 2015 nines squad". Rugby League Week.
  22. ↑ "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 3 May 2015.
  23. ↑ Brady, Jack (3 May 2015). "Country overcome City in seesawing affair". NRL.com.
  24. ↑ Meyn, Travis (24 July 2015). "Gold Coast Titans duo Kevin Gordon and David Mead want to avoid another wooden spoon". Gold Coast Bulletin.
  25. ↑ Lutton, Phil (30 August 2015). "Dave Taylor enigma continues as Gold Coast Titans upset St George Illawarra Dragons". Sydney Morning Herald.
  26. ↑ Luca, Rocco (29 January 2016). "Titans unveil 2016 nines squad". Rugby League Week.
  27. ↑ Campton, Nick (7 May 2016). "Papua New Guinea hold on to upset Fiji in Pacific Test thriller". Daily Telegraph.
  28. ↑ "Broncos Confirm Mead Signing". broncos.com.au. 10 September 2016.

External links

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