![Lakes prop Jake O'Meley en route to scoring his first try of the Newcastle Rugby League season, crossing against Macquarie at Cahill Oval on May 27. Picture by Jonathan Carroll Lakes prop Jake O'Meley en route to scoring his first try of the Newcastle Rugby League season, crossing against Macquarie at Cahill Oval on May 27. Picture by Jonathan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/gNecaFSpqFSLkittedmeiY/6b2ea36e-e204-4075-abb9-c91856180c13.jpg/r0_383_5072_3381_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
There wasn't much else to talk about in the O'Meley household.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Jake O'Meley - son of NRL premiership winner, NSW and Australian representative Mark - reckons the topic of conversation never really erred far from footy.
"There wasn't much else to talk about that's for sure. Footy and that's about it," the Lakes prop said as he prepares for the second half of the Newcastle Rugby League season.
Inside the Canterbury dressing sheds, sideline for the Bulldogs' grand final victory in 2004 and moving to the other side of the world was all "just normal" for O'Meley junior.
"Some people dream about that stuff - going in the sheds and on the field after the grand final - but for me it was just normal," Wyee-based Jake, now aged 22, said.
"You don't really understand what's going on when you're four or five years old, but it's pretty cool."
And with brother Nick three years his senior, Jake was always comfortable following in the sporting footsteps of his family.
"It didn't end [backyard battles]. Me and him [Nick] wresting all the time growing up apparently," Jake said.
"Anything Nick was doing, I was doing. If he played footy, I played footy."
Juniors at the Gymea Gorillas and overseas in England while dad continued his career at Hull FC, Jake eventually landed at Wyong.
He debuted for the Roos on the Central Coast before they rejoined the Newcastle RL ranks in 2020, but signed for Lakes the following season and has been at Cahill Oval ever since.
"It's been good but it's been tough, we've struggled to find success," Jake said.
Coming off the bye, Lakes visit Kurri in a bottom-of-the-table clash on Saturday afternoon.
"Hopefully we can find a bit of rhythm [last eight rounds]. We've been close at times but we need to be in games for longer periods," Jake said.
In terms of playing position front-row has always been home and Jake reckons the best advice was simple from his father, a man commonly known by nickname Ogre and still in the coaching game.
"Run hard and tackle hard. There's not much to it in the middle," Jake said.
* CENTRAL coach Phil Williams says he's wary of upcoming opponents Cessnock, likely stinging after back-to-back losses, but he's challenging the Butcher Boys to back up Sunday's hard-fought 8-4 victory.
"That's been our biggest problem, we haven't been able to back up a good effort with a good effort. We have a good game and then a rank game," Williams said.
* ROUND 11: Saturday - Macquarie v The Entrance, Maitland v Wyong (2pm); Cessnock v Central, Kurri Kurri v Lakes (3pm). Sunday - Northern Hawks v Souths (3pm). Bye - Wests.
MORE IN SPORT:
To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.