Charlie Wabo is a Papua New Guinean professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played as a for the

Newcastle Thunder The Newcastle Thunder are a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They play in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship competition, the second tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom. They play their home ...

in Kingstone Press League 1. He is a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

international. Wabo is from the Okapa District of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. In August 2008, Wabo was named in the Papua New Guinea training squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

and in October he was named in the final PNG squad. Wabo was named in the interchange in each of PNG's three games in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. In 2009 Wabo moved to England to play for Hunslet Hawks in

Championship One RFL League One (for sponsorship reasons currently known as the Betfred League One) is a professional rugby league competition based in the United Kingdom. Part of the British rugby league pyramid, the competition features clubs from England a ...

. Wabo was named as part of the

squad for the

2009 Pacific Cup The 2009 Pacific Cup, known as the 2009 SP Brewery Pacific Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league competition held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The competing teams were the , , , , . Tonga, Fiji and PNG had their places in the draw c ...

.Kumuls named
''The National'', 12 October 2009 He was used as an impact sub playing hooker to great effect. His trademark solid tackling and flamboyant play ensured, along with

David Mead David Mead may refer to: *David Mead (military general), founder of Meadville, Pennsylvania *David Mead (musician), American pop singer and songwriter *David Mead (rugby league) David Mead (born David Moore on 4 November 1988) is a Papua New Gui ...

, he was one of the crowd favourites for the PNG Kumuls during the Pacific Cup. He played for Papua New Guinea in the

2010 Four Nations The 2010 Rugby League Four Nations tournament was played in Australia and New Zealand in October and November 2010. The tournament was the second time the Four Nations had been held, following on from the 2009 edition held in England and France. ...

tournament. In 2011 he returned to play in Papua New Guinea. In 2013 he played in the Rugby League World Cup for Papua New Guinea. In 2014 he played hooker for the Kroton Hela Wigmen and helped the Wigmen win its first premiership after defeating heavily favoured Agmark Rabaul Gurias in Lae. In 2019 he was appointed Assistance Coach for the Hela Wigmen. While appreciating his presence in the team the head coach praised him and said: When 2020 Digicel Cup competition season was about to begin, he was appointed as the Head Coach for Kroton Hela Wigmen. During his first year tenure as Head Coach, he successfully delivered another trophy for the Wigmen after his team defeated the Lae Snax Tigers in the grand final in front of sold-out crowd at the National Football Stadium. To add on to his achievement, he was awarded the Coach of the Year award by the PNGRL.

References

1984 births Living people Expatriate rugby league players in England Hunslet R.L.F.C. players Mendi Muruks players Newcastle Thunder players Papua New Guinea national rugby league team players Papua New Guinean expatriate rugby league players Papua New Guinean expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Papua New Guinean rugby league players Rugby league hookers {{PapuaNewGuinea-rugbyleague-bio-stub