Francis Meli

Francis Meli

Meli playing for Samoa in 2008
Personal information
Born	(1979-04-27) 27 April 1979 (age 37) Apia, Samoa
Playing information
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Position	Wing, Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1998–05 Auckland Warriors 110 60 0 0 240 2006–13 St. Helens 223 145 0 0 580 2014 Salford Red Devils 19 14 0 0 56 Total 352 219 0 0 876 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2000–10 Samoa 7 2 0 0 8 2001–04 New Zealand 14 6 0 0 24 2011–12 Exiles 3 4 0 0 16
Source:

Francis Meli (born 27 April 1979) is a Samoan former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. A Samoa and New Zealand international representative centre or winger, he played in the National Rugby League for New Zealand club, Auckland Warriors before playing in Super League for English clubs, St. Helens and Salford.

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

Meli was then signed by the Auckland Warriors and made his NRL debut against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 2 May 1999. Due to a feeder arrangement with the Warriors, Meli also played several games for Brisbane Souths in the Queensland Cup.

Meli played for Samoa in the 2000 World Cup. In 2001 he then switched allegiance to New Zealand, playing in 14 test matches between 2001 and 2004. He played for the Warriors on the wing in their 2002 NRL Grand Final loss to the Sydney Roosters. In the post-season Meli was selected to go on the 2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France. He was played on the wing in five test matches and scored 4 tries.