David Mead (rugby league)

David Mead
Personal information
Full name David Mead (formerly Moore)
Born (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)
Playing information
Position wing, fullback, centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009– Gold Coast Titans 129 60 0 0 240
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–13 PNG 8 5 0 0 20
2014–15 NSW Country 2 3 0 0 12
As of 12 September 2015
Source: [1]

David Mead (formerly Moore)[2] (born 4 November 1988) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Gold Coast Titans of the National Rugby League. A Papua New Guinea international and New South Wales Country Origin representative, Mead primarily plays on the wing but can fill in at fullback and centre.

Background

Born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Mead moved to Australia as a 12-year old and attended Kadina High School and Trinity Catholic College in Lismore, New South Wales.[3] Mead played junior football with Lismore Marist Brothers before being signed by the Gold Coast Titans.[4] 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.[5] Mead played impressively during the World Cup in his 3 matches and his NRL debut for the Titans was highly anticipated.

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 Cbus Super Stadium.[7] In Mead's next appearance in Round 16 against the New Zealand Warriors, Mead made his first appearance in the starting line-up, and scored his first and second NRL career tries in the Titans 28-12 win at Cbus Super Stadium.[8] Mead finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 14 matches and scoring 8 tries. He was part of the Papua New Guinea squad for the 2009 Pacific Cup,[9] and was named their player of the year.[10]

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."[11] In Round 12 against the Sydney Roosters, Mead scored a hatrick of tries in the Titans 30-16 loss.[12] 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 Remondis Stadium. Assistant coach Steve Muphy 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."[13]

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.[14]

2013

In Round 23 against the North Queensland Cowboys, Mead became the first Gold Coast Titans player to score 50 tries in the 22-10 loss at 1300SMILES Stadium.[15] 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 February, Mead was selected for the Titans inaugural 2014 Auckland Nines squad.[16] 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.[17] Mead played at fullback and scored 2 tries in the 26-26 all draw in Dubbo.[18] In Round 11 against the New Zealand Warriors, Mead played his 100th NRL career match in the 24-16 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.[19] 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.[20] He also returned for New South Wales Country, playing at fullback and scoring a try in their 34-22 win at Wagga Wagga.[21][22] 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.[23][24] He scored 5 tries from 22 matches for the 2015 NRL season.

2016

On 29 January 2016, Macdonald was named in the Titans 2016 Auckland Nines squad.[25]

Statistics

Season Team Pld T G FG Pts
2009 Gold Coast Titans 14 8 0 0 32
2010 Gold Coast Titans 15 6 0 0 24
2011 Gold Coast Titans 24 16 0 0 64
2012 Gold Coast Titans 20 10 0 0 40
2013 Gold Coast Titans 16 11 0 0 44
2014 Gold Coast Titans 18 4 0 0 16
Totals 107 55 0 0 220

(* 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. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  2. ↑ "NRL News". NRL.com. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  3. ↑ "MEN OF THE WORLD Two: DAVID MEAD (Papua New Guinea & Australia)". Stevemascord.com. 2013-05-03. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  4. ↑ "Mead on Raider alert". Northern Star. 2010-06-04. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  5. ↑ "BBC SPORT | Rugby League | Wilshere handed Kumuls captaincy". BBC News. 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  6. ↑ "Titans Youngsters Stay Loyal". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  7. ↑ "Titans Defeat Illawarra 28-24". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  8. ↑ "Young Guns Inspire Depleted Gold Coast Titans to Big Win over Warriors". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  9. ↑ "Kumuls Named". The National. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  10. ↑ "Hayne Named Player of the Year". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ "Roosters Beat Titans 30-16 in NRL Round 12 Match". Couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  13. ↑ Tristan Rayner. "David Mead scores incredible NRL try". The Roar.
  14. ↑ "Mead re-signs with Titans until 2016 | NRL". Zero Tackle. 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  15. ↑ "Cowboys Beat Titans 22-10 in NRL Round 23". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  16. ↑ "Squads For Auckland Nines". Rugby League Week. 2014-02-14. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  17. ↑ "David Mead a Kumul Chameleon After the Papua New Guinea International Changes Eligibility". Couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  18. ↑ "Hulking Centre Jamal Idris Stars in Thrilling City/Country Draw". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  19. ↑ "Dave Taylor Shines as Titans Keep Sinking Following Loss to Warriors". Couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  20. ↑ "TITANS NAME 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  21. ↑ "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  22. ↑ "Country overcome City in seesawing affair". NRL.com. 2015-05-03. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  23. ↑ Meyn, Travis (2015-07-24). "Gold Coast Titans duo Kevin Gordon and David Mead want to avoid another wooden spoon". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  24. ↑ Phil Lutton. "Dave Taylor enigma continues as Gold Coast Titans upset St George Illawarra Dragons". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  25. ↑ http://rugbyleagueweek.com.au/titans-unveil-2016-nines-squad/

External links

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