MEAKES MAKING HIS MARK EARLY
Western Force recruit Bill Meakes has wasted no time showing the Western Australian rugby public just what he has to offer after impressive showings in the Perth Spirit’s opening two matches of the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship (NRC).
The former Australian Under 20’s and Sevens representative signed with the Force in July after 46 appearances for English Premiership side Gloucester and has brought his abrasive game style to the West with his hard running and tackling being features of his game.
After training with the Western Force for almost two months Meakes says it has been great to get game time under his belt with the Spirit.
“It’s been really good,” he said. “Obviously we had a really good win at home in Round One and a pretty disappointing loss last weekend but from a personal point of view it has been great to get back out there and play some footy after a couple months without a game.”
The 25-year-old centre sees the Buildcorp NRC as the perfect way to find his feet in his new surroundings and develop some good chemistry with his backline comrades.
“First and foremost I’m really looking to get stuck into Perth rugby and I’m now getting to know the ins-and-outs of the place. The main thing is learning the structures of our play and understanding my role in the team.”
“Playing with the Spirit is a great way to start building some combinations and developing that chemistry with guys that I will hopefully be playing Super Rugby with.
“The key message that I have been given is to learn as much as I can off guys like Jono (Lance) and ‘Taps’ (Ben Tapuai) especially and build on that combination every week. It is fantastic for me to be able to learn off those guys who have played a fair bit of Super Rugby and help me prepare for next season.
“And the other thing for me would be to just keep improving individually, working on my fitness and my skill set so that come the end of the NRC I can really attack pre-season leading into Super Rugby.”
When Meakes signed with the Western Australian club he set himself on the path to achieving his lifelong goal of playing Super Rugby and will be using the Buildcorp NRC as a vehicle to push himself closer to a debut.
“For the rest of NRC I just want to play as much rugby as I can and develop those combinations with the boys and get my body and mind in a state where I am ready to go for pre-season.”
“From there it’s no secret that I want to be playing for the Western Force, if I can get in the match day 23 for Round One then that will be a big achievement.
“From day one I have looked to push my case for a place in the centres and want to play as much Super Rugby as I can in 2017 so I’ll just keep building on my way to that.”
Meakes created headlines when he was called in the Wallabies extended training squad just weeks after returning to Australia but says he is solely concentrated on getting ready for Super Rugby.
“Playing for the Wallabies is something every young kid dreams about growing up but I’ve still got a long way to go to get there so all my focus is on playing well for the Perth Spirit and staking my claim for Super Rugby.”
Meakes and the Perth Spirit will be back in action again this weekend when they travel to take on the Greater Sydney Rams at Concord Oval kicking off at 11:00AM AWST.
https://www.westernforce.com.au/arti...his-mark-early
