Declan Meredith is the ultimate Rugby story of never giving up on your dream.
The Cairns-born playmaker is set to become the latest to wear the famous gold #10 jersey, named to start against France in Brisbane on Saturday.
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Meredith will be the sixth flyhalf to start for the Wallabies in the past 12 months, including Carter Gordon, Tom Lynagh, Noah Lolesio, James O’Connor and Tane Edmed, with Ben Donaldson and Hamish Stewart also used as cover.
Whilst the likes of Gordon, Donaldsdon, Lolesio and co have seemed destined for the gold jersey, Meredith is the true grinder who has fought every step of the way.
Turning 27 last month, Meredith bucks the trends of past flyhalves thrown into the deep end in Test Rugby.
The six previous starters mentioned all had pulled on the gold jersey before the age of 25, with even the likes of Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley and Matt Giteau starting in the infancy of their careers.
It makes Meredith the oldest debut playmaker for the Wallabies in the 21st century, with Rod Kafer in 1999 the oldest prior, at 28, after his initial debut was delayed three years due to an ankle injury.
“I think the main thing I've learned from it is patience," he told Rugby.com.au back in June.
“Every player's quite hungry to want to be starting each week and be on the team each week so there was definitely the last couple of years where it's been in or out, off the bench, not many minutes here or there but I think that’s helped me grow my game a lot.
“I think it's been good for my development because you don't want to be rushing to the deep end. You see a lot of young 10s thrown in the deep end straight away and it's almost a fight or flight for them in the moment, whereas I haven't been able to experience that as much, which has been good, I feel, for my development."
Growing up in northern Queensland, Meredith never made a national rep side at any age group until his call-up last week.
Choosing rugby over football, the playmaker decided to move south in 2019 to follow his dream, signing with John I Dent Cup side Wests whilst studying to be a teacher.
He earned a spot in the Brumbies Pathways program off the back of these performances in club rugby and continued to grind away, even though there were times when he thought the call-up to Super Rugby would never come.
“At the start I had a timeline, thinking it might be too late if I didn’t get to a certain point within a certain number of years,” Meredith told reporters following his call-up.
“I remember getting to that point and talking to my dad and my uncle, who was in Canberra at the time. I thought about coming home.”
Persistence paid off, and he’d debut in Super Rugby in 2023 off the back of dominating the John I Dent Cup, earning him the MacDougall Medallist as the comp’s player of the year.
But the grind was far from over.
Meredith would spend close to two years on the bench, largely an unused sub behind Lolesio, before his chance came in 2025, starting in a three-game span that included a historic win over the Blues at Eden Park.
Lolesio’s departure to Japan opened the door, but it seemed closed when Edmed signed, who was the Wallabies' incumbent at the time.
But Meredith was built to fight and worked his way into the Brumbies starting side under the wing of Wallabies legend Stephen Larkham.
“It's a really good feeling that [Steve’s] backed me and put that confidence into me and gave me that opportunity. I can't thank him enough for giving me that and he’s helped me throughout this year. There’s been a lot of one-on-ones working on my game and where I can be better each week and I think that's helped me improve week to week," he said.
“He's one of the greats, so he’s a pretty good person to fall back on and ask for tips when needed, so that’s been very helpful and has helped me improve my game a lot.”
The faith was repaid as Meredith started the 2026 season on fire for the Brumbies.
He began with a double against the Western Force but back-to-back wins over the Crusaders rocketed him into Test contention.
The win over the Chiefs in March further fuelled these conversations, with a try and an assist to outpoint All Black Damian McKenzie.
Whilst the second half of the season saw the playmaker dealing with the increased pressure, the playmaker stayed focused and remained ready to take his chance.
"You don’t think it’s real sometimes," he told Rugby.com.au and smiled. “For me, it’s my first good crack for a year and you get that stuff thrown up so you don’t think it’s reality."
Now, Meredith will follow in the footsteps of Larkham and pull on the gold jersey in the state where it all began, kicking around the footy as a young kid dreaming of what a moment like Saturday would be.
“There were definitely times when I thought the dream was over and it was time to go back home, but I’m glad I stuck with it. I am so happy to be here now,” he said.
