The pair joins fellow Irishman Jamie Hamilton at the club, as the brains trust at McEwen Reserve looks to build on what was a promising 2021 campaign.
Suns coach Craig Carley said being able to bring in such high quality overseas talent spoke to the strength of the club.
“Obviously visa players are really important for us and add that extra quality to our squad, so getting the right boys in is paramount and we are super excited to welcome both Eric and Stephen to the Suns,” Carley said.
“Getting them both over here so early and integrated into our squad will only be better for us and super important as we gear up for what is set to be a big season.”
Whelan comes to the Goulburn Valley an accomplished central defender, after enjoying successful stints at the Division One California State University and Irish First Division side Dundalk FC.
Carley outlined the process of getting the 23-year-old to the club and what he hoped he would bring to the group in 2022.
“Through Shane Dunne, who was one of our visa players last year and is an Irish boy as well, we managed to get on to a few boys, got a hold of some footage and really liked what we saw (from Whelan),” he said.
“We are hoping he can bring a bit of leadership and bit of stability in our defence. We want to continue on from our successful season last year and obviously not conceding goals is a big part of that, so hopefully Eric can marshal the troops and have a big impact for us.”
Complementing Whelan’s arrival in defence is the injection up front of Meaney, who comes to the Suns with a reputation as a clinical finisher, having scored an abundance of goals in his distinguished League of Ireland career.
He was particularly lethal in his time at Drogheda United, netting 15 goals in 50 appearances, making him one for all Suns fans to watch out for come the beginning of the season.
Carley said he could not wait to have a weapon of Meaney’s quality at his disposal.
“With Stephen, he has got a quality resume, great pedigree, and we are really looking for him to come in and score some goals,” he said.
“His arrival will change the way we play a bit as we have never had that big target man up front before, so he will be able to hold the ball up a bit and bring others into the game, which makes it really exciting from a coaching point of view to see what he can do.”
Continuing what has been a busy off-season in the signing department, Carley said he was happy with where his squad was at and excited to get back on the field in 2022, with promotion at the top of the agenda.
“We took it relatively easy pre-Christmas. We were supposed to play South Melbourne on the weekend, but due to the COVID cases we didn’t, so we will ramp it up again this week before we play Hume City on the weekend which will be a great test for us,” he said.
“Every year we go in wanting to win every single game and this year is no different. My expectation is that we are competing for those top two positions in the league and hopefully we can get promoted.”
