Garry Lo (born 1 November 1993) is a Papua New Guinean

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays for the

Waghi Tumbe Waghi Tumbe is a semi-professional rugby league club based in Minj, Jiwaka Province of Papua New Guinea. They competed in the Digicel Cup, Papua New Guinea's semi-professional rugby league competition. the team first entered the SP cup now known ...

in the Digicel Cup. Lo plays as a winger. He is also a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

international. He represented Papua New Guinea in the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

Early years

Born in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, Lo played junior rugby league in local rugby league clubs and then played for Gomis Panthers RLFC in Mount Hagen.

Playing career

2011

Mount Hagen Eagles, a local rugby league club in the Digicel Cup, had him in a train and trial in the off-season and he eventually earned a spot in the wing and centres, he played with Mount Hagen Eagles for another season in 2012.

2013

Due to study commitments at the

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, he left Mount Hagen Eagles and was signed by

Port Moresby Vipers The Port Moresby Vipers (formerly the Port Moresby Bulldogs) are a Papua New Guinean rugby league team from Port Moresby. The team currently competes in the Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition and is bidding to join the NSW Cup co ...

, where he played for the rest of the 2013 season in which

won the 2013 Digicel Cup premiership.

PNG Hunters

In their début season in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

, a second tier competition in Australia,

PNG Hunters The Papua New Guinea Hunters (also referred to as PNG Hunters) are a professional rugby league football club based in Papua New Guinea. They were formed in December 2013 and compete in the Queensland Cup, a second tier competition in Australia. ...

selected Lo among other emerging players. He impressed the rugby league fans in

Queensland, Australia Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

and

with his speed and power on the flanks and was dubbed as a try-scoring machine and 'mini Matt Utai'. In 2014, he was awarded the top try scorer award in the

for his season's total of 24 tries. During the 2014 off-season, Garry left for

Gateshead Thunder Gateshead Thunder may refer to: * Gateshead Thunder (1999), a rugby league team formed in 1999 and then merged with Hull Sharks * Gateshead Thunder (2000), a rugby league team formed in 2000, which became Newcastle Thunder in 2015 {{Disambigu ...

in England with his club-mate

Jason Tali Jason Tali is a Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer who plays as a for Goole Vikings in RFL League 1, on short-term loan from Doncaster RLFC in the Championship. He represented Papua New Guinea in the 2013 World Cup. Playing career He pl ...

and

Mark Mexico Mark Mexico (born 21 May 1989) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Sheffield Eagles in the Championship (rugby league), Kingstone Press Championship as a forward. Playing career Early career Bor ...

joining from NRL club

Cronulla Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league compet ...

, which made the headlines in the local news. A controversial signing in which

Stanley Gene Stanley Gene (born 11 May 1974) is a Papua New Guinean former rugby league Kumul (№ 166) player and Assistant Coach of the Hull F.C. He previously coached Gateshead Thunder and assistant coach at Hull Kingston Rovers and served as the Papu ...

was criticized for player grabbing. But in a twist, he left England and came back to Papua New Guinea and apologized to the Hunters team for the wrong decision he made to leave them. However, the PNG Hunters made it very clear that there would be no fast return for the Kumuls winger, as he seeks to rejoin the team for the 2015 Queensland Cup Lo then announced that he would join his original club, Mount Hagen Eagles in the Digicel Cup in 2015, where he was appointed captain. Just before the Digicel Cup kick off, PNG Hunters Coach,

Michael Marum Michael Marum (born 8 October 1973) is a Papua New Guinean rugby league coach and politician who was the first head coach of the Port Moresby-based PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup and the Papua New Guinea national team. During his playing care ...

, named Garry Lo in round 6 in an extended 21 player team to take on the inform

Mackay Cutters The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in 2007, alongside th ...

, after poor performance and injuries to strike players for

Sheffield Eagles

Lo then brought his career back to England by joining

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Olympic Legacy Park and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Sheffield's on ...

, again along with fellow countryman

. Here he became noticed for pitch-length runs, often resulting in a try. He scored more tries than games played with a 46/50 games/tries record. This resulted in 200 points scored for the Eagles in just two seasons.

Castleford Tigers

Lo signed a two-year deal with

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

side

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

on 22 September 2017 with a deal with the

that is on loan. This gives both clubs the option of playing him when he doesn't play for his parent club. The Papua New Guinean scored on his

debut in a 28–12 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. On 6 May 2018, Lo secured a mutual release from Castleford.

International career

Garry Lo has played five times for

, scoring four tries so far. He was named in the Papua New Guinea national team for the 2017 World Cup after an impressive season in England. His World Cup exploits were impressive too, as he scored twice against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Police Inquiry

In April 2018 Castleford stood down Lo as he 'voluntarily assisted a police inquiry', but neither the club nor

West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police, formerly the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England ...

would disclose any further information.

References

External links

Castleford Tigers profile2017 RLWC profileSL profilePNG HuntersPNG players embroiled in contract dispute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lo, Garry 1993 births Living people 21st-century Papua New Guinean sportsmen AS Carcassonne players Castleford Tigers players Papua New Guinea Hunters players Papua New Guinea national rugby league team players Papua New Guinean rugby league players Port Moresby Vipers players PNG Prime Minister's XIII players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from the Western Highlands Province Rugby league wingers Sheffield Eagles players