Wartovo Puara Jr

Wartovo Puara
Personal information
Full nameWartovo Puara Jr
Born (1990-06-24) 24 June 1990 (age 34)
Tapipipi H/C, Tomadir LLG, Raim Village, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Height174 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight84 kg (13 st 3 lb)
Playing information
PositionHooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–18 PNG Hunters 111 25 0 0 100
2019–20 Barrow Raiders 33 2 0 0 8
2021–22 PNG Hunters 24 2 0 0 8
Total 168 29 0 0 116
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2012–22 PNG Prime Minister's XIII 4 0 0 0 0
2014–22 Papua New Guinea 6 2 0 0 8
2019 Papua New Guinea 9s 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [1][2]
As of 9 November 2023
Medals
Men's rugby league nines
Representing  Papua New Guinea
Pacific Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Port Moresby Team

Wartovo Puara Jr (born 24 June 1990) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Sepik Pride Rugby League Football Club in the PNGNRL. He previously played for the Barrow Raiders in the Championship. He has represented the Papua New Guinean national team, most notably at the 2017 World Cup.

Early life

Puara was born in Kokopo, Papua New Guinea, and played his junior rugby league for the Kokopo Muruks.Most of his childhood career played in local competition under RMX Dogs team from Raim Village.

Playing career

Puara joined the PNG Hunters in 2014 for their inaugural season in the Queensland Cup. He trained with the South Sydney Rabbitohs on a six week trial contract during the 2015 pre-season.[3] Puara represented PNG in rugby league nines at the 2015 Pacific Games, scoring 2 tries in the grand final and being named Player of the Tournament.[4]

In 2019 Puara signed for the Barrow Raiders he enjoyed a great first season and was tipped by Barrie McDermott as one of 6 potential championship players that could play in super league. His form earned him a place in the PNG international side that took on Great Britain and won. In 2020 Puara signed a two-year contract extension with the Raiders.

International caps
Cap Date Venue Opponent Competition T G FG Points
1
 19 October 2014 Lae Oval, Lae  Tonga
1
0
0
4
2
 2 May 2015 Robina Stadium, Gold Coast  Fiji
0
0
0
0
3
 7 May 2016 Parramatta Stadium, Sydney  Fiji
0
0
0
0
4
 6 May 2017 Leichhardt Oval, Sydney  Cook Islands
1
0
0
4
5
 28 October 2017 PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby  Wales 2017 World Cup
0
0
0
0

References

  1. ^ "Wartovo Puara". QRL.com.au. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Wartovo Puara". Rugby League Project.
  3. ^ "Two PNG Hunters to Train and Trial with Rabbitohs". rabbitohs.com.au. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  4. ^ Lester, Joanna (13 July 2015). "PNG wins gold at Pacific Games". NRL.com. Retrieved 6 November 2017.


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