Francis Meli (born 27 April 1979) is a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

international representative centre or winger, he played in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

for New Zealand club,

Auckland Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

before playing in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

for English clubs, St Helens and

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

Background

Born in Apia, Samoa on 27 April 1979, Meli grew up in the Auckland suburb of

Titirangi Titirangi is a suburb of West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland in the Waitākere Ranges (local board area), Waitākere Ranges local board area of the city of Auckland in northern New Zealand. It is an affluent, residential suburb located t ...

, Meli began his rugby league career at the age of 9 when he joined the Avondale Wolves. He eventually joined City Marist and played for the

Marist Saints The Marist Saints is a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. They currently compete in the top grade in Auckland Rugby League, the Fox Memorial Premiership. History Founded in 1919, the Marist club first won the Fox Memorial in 1 ...

in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

Club career

New Zealand Warriors

Meli was then signed by the

, and made his

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

début against the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

on 2 May 1999. Due to a feeder arrangement with the Warriors, Meli also played several games for Brisbane Souths in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

. He played for the Warriors on the wing in their

2002 NRL Grand Final The 2002 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2002 NRL season. It took place on Sunday, 6 October 2002, at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. 80,130 people saw the Sydney Roosters beat the New Zealand Warriors 30–8. ...

loss to the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

. In the post-season Meli was selected to go on the

2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France The 2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. The New Zealand national rugby league team drew the series 1.5-1.5 against Great Britain and also defeated Wales and Franc ...

. He was played on the wing in five test matches and scored 4 tries. Meli scored a club record 23 tries for the Warriors in the

2003 NRL season The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed joint ...

. He scored 5 of those tries in a single finals game against the

Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

, a feat still unbeaten in the finals. He played his 50th match for the club on 6 April 2003 and his 100th match against the Wests Tigers on 9 April 2005. He was named the 2003 New Zealand Warriors’ Player of the Year.

St Helens

At the start of 2006 Meli joined St. Helens. He played for St Helens on the wing in their

2006 Challenge Cup The 2006 Challenge Cup (also known as the Powergen Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Powergen) was the 105th tournament played for rugby league's Challenge Cup. It features teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, Franc ...

Final victory against the

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

St Helens reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

, and Meli played on the wing, scoring a try in Saints' 26-4 victory. As 2006 Super League champions, St Helens faced 2006 NRL Premiers the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

in the

2007 World Club Challenge The 2007 Carnegie World Club Challenge was played between Super League XI champions, St. Helens and 2006 National Rugby League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. It was a replay of the 2001 World Club Challenge, and both clubs' fifth WCC appear ...

. Meli played on the wing in the Saints' 18-14 victory. In his first three years at the club he acquired three Challenge Cup winning medals, a World Club Challenge winning medal and a Grand Final winning ring. He also played in 2008's Super League XIII Grand Final defeat by the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

. Visa issues due to the United Kingdoms new requirements curtailed the start of his 2009 campaign, however these issues were suffered by many imports that season. He arrived back in the country five rounds late and was forced to start his season in the reserves. He played in the

2009 Super League Grand Final The 2009 Super League Grand Final was the 12th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XIV season. It was held on Saturday 10 October 2009, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by defendi ...

defeat by the

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. At the start of 2010 Meli was granted compassionate leave to briefly return to New Zealand. He played in the

2011 Super League Grand Final The 2011 Super League Grand Final was the 14th official Grand Final and the championship-deciding game of the Super League XVI season. It was held on Saturday, 8 October at Manchester, England's Old Trafford stadium. The match was contested by ...

defeat by the

Salford Red Devils

Meli played for Super League side

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugb ...

for the 2014 season after signing a one-year contract at the club. Meli retired at the conclusion of the 2014 season after failing to be offered a new contract. Francis Meli 2008

International career

Samoa

Meli played for

in the 2000 World Cup.

New Zealand

In 2001 he then switched allegiance to

, playing in 14 test matches between 2001 and 2004. Meli was selected to play on the wing for New Zealand in the 2004 Anzac Test against Australia in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

, the Kiwis losing to the Kangaroos 10-37. At the end of the season he was also selected to play for New Zealand on the wing in all four of their matches at the

2004 Rugby League Tri-Nations The second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament (known as the Gillette (brand), Gillette Tri-Nations due to sponsorship) was contested between October 2004 in sports, 16 October and November 2004 in sports, 27 November of 2004 in sports, 2004. The ...

Samoan return

In 2008 Meli played for

in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. Meli was named in the Samoan squad for the

2009 Pacific Cup The 2009 Pacific Cup, known as the 2009 SP Brewery Pacific Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league competition held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The competing teams were the , , , , . Tonga, Fiji and PNG had their places in the draw c ...

Exiles

Meli was selected to play for the

Exiles Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

by coach Brian McLennan. He started the game on the wing against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and scored a try in the 16-12 Exiles win. Francis was selected again to represent the

by new coach Daniel Anderson, Meli started Game 1 on the wing and scored a try in the 18-10 loss to

. Meli also featured on the wing for Game 2 and was instrumental in helping the Exiles to a 32-20 win by scoring 2 tries and helping the Exiles retain the

International Origin International Origin was an annual series of rugby league football matches between England and the Exiles. The International Origin was created by the Rugby Football League (RFL) to ensure that the English national side had a good strong mid-sea ...

trophy.

Post-playing career and personal life

In 2022, Meli was drafted in as a replacement for

Shontayne Hape Shontayne Edward Hape (; born 30 January 1981) is a New Zealand former professional rugby footballer, a dual-code rugby international. He played rugby union at centre for Montpellier, London Irish, Bath and England. He played rugby league for ...

as a on-field player for ''Match Fit.'' He is also the mental health coach for the group as he is child case manager with New Zealand Police since retiring from the game. He has a wife and 3 girls, as of 2022, the oldest was 16 and the youngest 2.

References

External links

St Helens profileSaints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meli, Francis 1979 births Living people 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Exiles rugby league team players Marist Richmond Brothers players Marist Saints players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people of Tokelauan descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand Warriors players People educated at Avondale College People educated at St Paul's College, Auckland Rugby league players from Apia Rugby league wingers Salford Red Devils players Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Souths Logan Magpies players St Helens R.F.C. players