LUCKY CHARLIE Once the referee blew fulltime on the 4th Digicel Cup Grand Final between the Kemele Hela Wigmen and the Agmark Rabaul Gurias in Lae today, a little piece of history was etched in the annals of time. Yes the Hela Wigmen did beat 5 time champions the Agmark Gurias 34-8 to claim their first ever Premiership, but their dimunitive hooker Charlie Wabo added his name to PNGs proud history of rugby league in the process. The Wigmen’s veteran hooker will forever be in the history books of rugby league as the first ever player to feature in 7 of the past 10 grand finals since the inception of semi-professional intercity rugby league in Papua New Guinea. The hooker has lost only 2 of the past 7 grand finals that he has played in. He first featured alongside current and fellow veteran Wigmen forward Joseph Omai back in 2005 when they lead the now defunct Port Moresby Bulldogs to the grand final against the Gurias. They didn’t get the win that day but he along with Omai and current Wigmen coach Stanley Hondina moved onto the Mendi Muruks and were part of the golden era of the Mendi franchise when they marched onto 3 consecutive grand final wins in 2006, 2007 and 2008. His stellar performances in those years lead to him picking up a contract with UK outfit the Hunslet Hawks in late 2009. He stayed on and played a full season with the Hawks and picked up their Player of the Year award for 2010. While he was in the UK, his beloved team the Muruks faced off against the Goroka Lahanis in the grand final and lost to them 21-10. The veteran rake later returned and rejoined the Muruks in 2011 and although they reached the finals that year, they got knocked out in the first week. Season 2012 rolled around and the Muruks regained their dominant self once again. They finished the regular season in 4th place and made it all the way to the grand final where they met their arch rivals, the Gurias. They fell short with a 14-10 loss and Charlie tasted his 2nd grand final defeat and first in the black and white colours of the Muruks. The Muruks had been without longtime sponsor and franchise owner Tom Higgins for most of 2012 due to an illness that struck him down during the year. Without a sponsor, the Mendi franchise wasnt expected to feature in season 2013 so most players packed their bags and headed to other franchises. Wabo moved to the big city and linked up with the Port Moresby Vipers and started pre-season training with them where he later heard that the Muruks were back in the competition after assistance by their members of parliament. Charlie proved to be the buy of the year as his direction from dummy half was intergral in leading the Vipers to breaking their 20 year premiership drought when they beat the Lahanis 36-14 in the grand final of 2013. Having linked up this year once again with his former team mates from the Muruks in Omai, George Moni, Felix Tangue, Wezza Tenza, Oliver Kerry, Kewa Kili and coach Hondina at the Wigmen, he once again proved to be a golden lucky charm as they beat the Gurias for the Hela franchises first Premiership. He may have lost his speed around the rucks but he is a puppet master who pulls all the right strings for his side. Any side that takes on this classy hooker would have to be on the lookout for his trademark show and go dummy that has fooled opposition defences both locally and internationally. One can only type in PNG Kumuls dummy in Youtube to see the dummy pass that he threw at the World Cup that fooled everyone including the camera man who was tracking the ball. Teams have tried to nullify Wabo’s influence on the game throughout the years with most opposition players left starstruck and in awe as the master directs his troops around. There is no telling when this veteran will decide to hang up the boots but one thing is for certain though, wherever Charlie goes, luck sure does follow him as well.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 13:39:10 +0000
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