2008 He was named in the Papua New Guinea squad for the
2008 Rugby League World Cup and between the 2008 World Cup and the
2009 NRL season he changed his surname from Moore to Mead. In round 13 of the
2009 NRL season, Mead made his NRL debut for the Gold Coast against the
St. George Illawarra Dragons off the interchange bench in a 28–24 win at
Skilled Park. In his next appearance in round 16 against the
New Zealand Warriors, Mead made his first appearance in the starting line-up, scoring his first and second NRL career tries in the 28–12 win at Skilled Park. Mead finished his debut year in the NRL with 14 matches and 8 tries. He was part of the Papua New Guinea squad for the
2009 Pacific Cup, and was named their player of the year by the
Rugby League International Federation.
2010 A regular on the wing in 2010, Mead was one of the club's leaders in many statistics before a foot injury saw him miss the rest of the season from round 16 onwards. Mead said, "It is pretty frustrating because I have worked so hard and to get halfway through the year now and it is all just gone, just like that." In Round 12 against the Sydney Roosters, Mead scored a hat trick of tries in the Titans 30–16 loss. Mead played in 15 matches and scored 6 tries during
2010.
2011 Despite the Titans poor record in
2011 where they finished with the
Wooden Spoon, Mead played in every match and was the club's top tryscorer with 16 tries from 24 appearances. In round 22 against the
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Mead scored what some considered the best try of the year when he collected a
Scott Prince cross-over kick on the fly behind his back one handed to score in the 20–16 win at
Toyota Stadium. Assistant coach Steve Murphy said, "I can't believe he caught that ball. It was just one of those freak things, those amazing things. He's got those in him, Dave."
2012 Mead played in 20 matches and scored 10 tries for the Titans in the
2012 NRL season. On 6 December 2012, Mead extended his contract with the Gold Coast for 4 years till the end of the 2016 season.
2013 In round 23 against the
North Queensland Cowboys, Mead became the first Gold Coast Titans player to score 50 tries for the club during their 22–10 loss at
1300SMILES Stadium. Mead played in 16 matches and scored 11 tries in
2013. In October, Mead represented Papua New Guinea in the
2013 Rugby League World Cup, playing in all 3 matches at .
2014 In January, Mead was selected for the Titans inaugural
2014 Auckland Nines squad. Mead was selected for the
Country Origin team in the annual
City vs Country Origin match after sorting out his eligibility for
New South Wales. Mead played at and scored 2 tries in the 26–26 all draw in
Dubbo. In round 11 against the
New Zealand Warriors, Mead played his 100th
NRL career match in the 24–16 loss at
Cbus Super Stadium. Mead finished the
2014 NRL season with him playing 18 matches and scoring 4 tries, his worst try-scoring effort to date.
2015 Mead was again a member of the Titans'
Auckland Nines squad. He also returned for
New South Wales Country, playing at fullback and scoring a try in their 34–22 win at
Wagga Wagga. In round 25 against the
St. George Illawarra Dragons, Mead eclipsed
Kevin Gordon's record as the Gold Coast Titans all-time highest try-scorer with 60 tries, overtaking Gordon's 58 tries for the club by scoring 2 tries in the Gold Coast's 28–26 win at
Cbus Super Stadium. He scored 5 tries from 22 matches for the
2015 NRL season.
2016 On 29 January 2016, Mead was named in the Titans 2016 Auckland Nines squad. On 7 May 2015, Mead captained
Papua New Guinea in the
2016 Melanesian Cup Test against
Fiji, where he played at fullback in the 24–22 win at
Parramatta Stadium. On 10 September 2016, it was announced that Mead would sign with the
Brisbane Broncos from 2017 on a one-year deal. Mead finished his last year with the Gold Coast Titans with him playing in 18 matches and scoring 7 tries in the
2016 NRL season. On 14 December 2016, Mead was named in the
World All Stars team on the wing to play against the
Indigenous All Stars on 10 February 2017.
2017 On 10 February 2017, Mead played for the
World All Stars against the
Indigenous All Stars in the
2017 All Stars match, playing at fullback and scoring a try in the 34–8 loss at
Hunter Stadium. On 18 February 2017, Mead made his Broncos debut in the
2017 World Club Series match against the
Warrington Wolves where he started on the wing and scored a try in the 27–18 loss at
Halliwell Jones Stadium. At the start of the 2017 season, Mead was languishing in the
Queensland Cup playing for the
Wynnum-Manly Seagulls after coach
Wayne Bennett opted to shift
Jordan Kahu to the wing and put Broncos new recruit
Tautau Moga at centre leaving Mead out of the starting backline. In Round 6 of the
2017 NRL season, Mead made his first appearance in the NRL for the
Brisbane Broncos against the
Sydney Roosters, filling in for an injured
Corey Oates on the wing and scoring a try in the 32–8 win at
Suncorp Stadium. On 21 April 2017, Mead extended his contract with Brisbane to the end of the 2018 season and also on the same day in round 8 against the
South Sydney Rabbitohs, Mead played his 150th
NRL career match in Brisbane's 25–24 win at
ANZ Stadium. Mead finished his year stint at the
Brisbane Broncos with him playing in 12 matches and scoring 3 tries in the
2017 NRL season. On 4 October 2017, Mead was named as the Captain of the Papua New Guinea 24-man squad for the
2017 Rugby League World Cup. Mead played in all 4 matches at fullback and scoring 4 tries for the Kumuls, having a great tournament by starting with scoring a hattrick of tries in the 50–6 demolishing victory over
Wales in
Port Moresby. On 12 December 2017, Mead announced that he had signed a 3-year deal with the Catalans Dragons in the
Super League, starting in 2018.
2018 He played in the
2018 Challenge Cup Final victory over the
Warrington Wolves at
Wembley Stadium.
2019 Mead played a total of 17 games for Les Catalans in the
Super League XXIV season as the club finished 7th on the table and missed out on the finals.
2020 Mead played 7 games for the
Catalans Dragons in the 2020 Super League season including the club's 48–2 semi-final defeat against St Helens.
2021 On 13 January, Mead signed for the
Brisbane Broncos. In round 1 of the
2021 NRL season, he scored a try in his return game to the NRL but Brisbane lost the match 24–16 against Parramatta. In round 11 against the
Sydney Roosters, Mead scored a
hat-trick in Brisbane's 34–16 victory.
Statistics (* denotes season still competing)
Honours ==References==