When Melbourne Storm’s 2023 members' player of the year runs out onto AAMI Park for the first time in 2024, the purple army might have to do a double take to recognise where he is.
That’s because Nick Meaney – last season’s NRL second highest pointscorer (222) and goalkicker (91) – will be wearing the No.4 jersey of a centre, rather than last season’s No.1.
“Craig called me up in the off-season and we discussed it and what I thought about it,” he told NRL.com.
“I’m the kind of person that I like a bit of change every now and then. It keeps me fresh and energised to learn new things.”
There was plenty of speculation as to how the 26-year-old would slot into the team this season, with Ryan Papenhuyzen returning from injury to take his place as fullback.
Rather than deploying him on the bench as a utility player, coach Bellamy has opted to utilise Meaney in a role that he has only played once in the NRL – back in 2021, for the Bulldogs.
Magnificent Meaney
Meaney has been focusing on the defensive side of his game during pre-season to help him with the switch.
“Fullback, you’re out the back by yourself and you kind of control your own destiny out there, make your own decisions - whereas when you’re defending in the line, on the edge, you’ve got to rely on the inside men to do some work for you, and then you’ve got to respond to what your inside man does,” he said.
“Probably that is the hardest challenge. Getting used to being in the defensive line and making tackles and having defensive reads.
“I’ve had a good pre-season, got a lot of reps in, a bit of trial time last week in Fiji. So [I’m] feeling good, feel like I’m ready for Round 1.”
Having a full season at fullback has given him insight into how he can best support his teammates as a centre.
“I know when I’m attacking as a fullback what I don’t like a centre to do in defence, so I guess I’ll probably just go out there and do what a fullback doesn’t like!” he said.
“Just try and give them that picture that they wouldn’t be comfortable seeing, being aggressive, being in good positions to make good tackles, make it hard to attack against. I think that’s the ultimate goal of each edge in football, to make it hard to score against.”
Having made the call to hand Meaney the No.4 jersey, Bellamy said he was "really confident he'll do a good job".
"Nick’s been great for us for two years...he's probably been our most consistent player to be quite honest, so we want to keep him in the side somewhere," Bellamy said.
"Last year he played basically the full year at fullback and then the year before in the halves after coming to us as a winger, so I've got no doubt he'll handle the centres.”
Papenhuyzen: "Hopefully we can get a big crowd out here on Friday night"
As the Storm head into their blockbuster clash with premiers Penrith, Meaney is focused on getting the simple things right to ensure a positive result.
“For us, it’s probably playing simple footy for a long period of time, and then that allows our star players to do what they do - create space and create opportunities,” he said.
“Just holding the ball, not giving away penalties, and not giving the opposition too much joy.”
If Meaney and his mates can take down the Panthers they will continue a remarkable streak that has seen them unbeaten in opening round matches since 2002.
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