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.