Cross-code young gun Daniel Meafou hunting SG Ball Cup glory with Illawarra Steelers in 2024
After a promising junior rep stint with the NSW Waratahs, young gun Daniel Meafou is committed to the Illawarra Steelers and has big ambition for 2024. Meet to emerging star.
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The Illawarra Steelers pre-season kicked off this week, with all four junior rep squads training side-by-side at their new headquarters at Wollongong TAFE.
A new season means new players to watch, with all of the pre-Christmas squad looking to make an early impression to cement their name on the team list come the start of the 2024 season.
One such young gun looking to do just that is promising forward Daniel Meafou.
The 17-year-old is entering his first season of SG Ball Cup footy with the Steelers, looking to make as much of a positive impact as he did in his two seasons with the club in the Harold Matthews Cup.
“My goal right now obviously for Steelers I’m hoping to get into the starting spot in SG Ball, that’s the goal,” Meafou said.
“Schoolboys is coming up as well, so I’ll be trying to make the NSWCCC team, then trial for the Aussie Schoolboys as well.”
Meafou kicked off his junior footy career at the Western Suburbs Devils from age six, still playing his club footy there to this day.
At the start of the 2023 season, his Devils under-18s coach Peter Reed picked him out as one of the threats to watch that season, referring to him as a standout in the middle of the park, bringing great contributions in both attack and defence.
Meafou made his first Illawarra rep squad in under-12s and hasn’t left the rep scene since.
His point of difference comes from his cross-code rugby background, having stumbled across an entry to the union rep scene while at Edmund Rice College.
“When I started taking league seriously and making rep squads, I stopped playing union outside of school,” Meafou said.
“But then there were some school rep pathways for union, so I just thought I’d give it a go, have some fun and try something else.”
Meafou would clearly impress in the different code, as while he was in Year 10 in 2022, he was selected in the under-16s NSW All Schools rugby union team. His top performances also earned him selection in the 32 man Waratahs under-16s team.
Ultimately though, it looks like his heart is with the Steelers and rugby league, with union merely a stepping stone to improve his league game.
“There are those little transferable skills that you get from union that not everyone has that I can pull out every now and then,” Meafou said.
Playing openside flanker in union, Meafou similarly attacks the line in league from the second row, or preferably from lock forward.
“I like lock, I get to play through the middle but I’m not restricted to making those hard carries, and I can play around with the ball a bit.
“I think my effort-on-effort in defence is good right now, I try to pride myself on my defence. Attack comes from lock as well of course, but defence is where I do my best work I think.”
Looking ahead to season 2024, Meafou is already itching to get back on the field and reignite some connections that have proved deadly through the years, notably with his Western Suburbs teammate and halfback Kade Reed.
“Definitely keen to get out there with Kade, I’ve played with him since under-10s,” Meafou said.
“We’ve just got that chemistry, he’s great to play off, he knows where I am always.”
Reed captained the Harold Matthews squad last season, with Meafou taking the armband when Reed was out with injury.
Illawarra Steelers SG Ball pre-Christmas squad:
Tyrone Amone, Viliami Amone, Hudson Bailey, Clay Baldock, Bohden Barrett, Lucas Borg, Hayden Buchanan, Dreau Clark, Cuba Cleaven-Vanderlaak, Beau Devlin, Aaymon Fitzgibbon, Malakai Folau, Dextar Grant, Charlie Heidke, Eden Hodges, Samuel Kennedy, Lyhkan King-Togia, Tom Kirk, Tom Knox, Drew Langdon, Isaac Laughton, Letham Manago, Bailey Marks, Daniel Meafou, Lincoln Miners, Ramses Munro, Ashton O’Dea, Seth Pearman, Braith Plecas, Kaide Pratt, Kade Reed, Jackson Rieck, Toby Rumble, Lewis Sargent-Wilson, Jackson Smith, Palu Tausala, Darnell Te Ahuru, Jarrah Treweek, Lachlan Weir, Harry Wililo
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