Willie Wolfgramm is a former 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 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who represented

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

at two

Rugby League World Cup The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was ...

s and the

1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Scotland, in April 1993. This tournament was the inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament. The International Rugby Board invited the established rugby union nations but als ...

Background

He is the cousin of fellow Tongan international Greg Wolfgramm.

Playing career

Wolfgramm played for Tonga in the 1992 Pacific Cup. He then spent some time at Manly before joining the Counties Manukau Heroes in the new

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

. He came off the bench in the

1994 Lion Red Cup The 1994 New Zealand rugby league season was the 87th season of rugby league in New Zealand. The main feature of the season was the inaugural Lion Red Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. The North Harbour Sea Eagles won t ...

grand final loss to the

North Harbour Sea Eagles The North Harbour Sea Eagles were a New Zealand rugby league club that represented North Harbour in the Lion Red Cup from 1994 to 1996. For the first two seasons they were coached by Graeme Norton. There two main feeder clubs were the Northcot ...

.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1994'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

, 1994. p.106 Following the World Cup Wolfgramm signed with Swinton.Wigan vs Bath on League's agenda
''The Independent'', 6 December 1995 Wolfgramm played in the 1997 Super League Nines for Tonga. Wolfgramm also won the 1999 Group 20 Rugby League premiership with the Narrandera Lizards as their Captain/Coach. He was then included in the 2000 World Cup side. In 2001, 2003 and 2004 Wolfgramm was part of the West Belconnen Warriors side in the Canberra Raiders Cup. Wolfgramm spent 2002 with the Valley Dragons.

Return to New Zealand

Wolfgramm returned to New Zealand, playing for the

Counties Manukau Jetz The Counties Manukau rugby league team represents the Counties Manukau zone in the Albert Baskerville Trophy. Previously, teams representing Southern Auckland and the Franklin district of New Zealand have competed in the Lion Red Cup and Barterc ...

in the

2006 Bartercard Cup The 2006 New Zealand rugby league season was the 99th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the seventh season of the Bartercard Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. Th ...

. He played for Tonga in the

2006 Pacific Cup The 2006 Pacific Cup was the 10th Pacific Cup, a rugby league tournament held between Pacific teams. The tournament was hosted in Auckland and eventually won by Tonga, who defeated Fiji in the final. Fiji's Asaeli Saravaki was the Player of the Tou ...

and was man of the match in the final. He played for the

Bay Roskill Vikings The Bay Roskill Vikings are a rugby league football club based in Mount Roskill and Blockhouse Bay, New Zealand, who compete in Auckland Rugby League's Sharman Cup competition. The club was established in 1979. History The club was formed in O ...

between 2010 and 2011 in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

's Sharman Cup competition, serving as

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

. Wolfgramm, who works as a butcher, was arrested in December 2011 for being involved in a plot to import methamphetamine into New Zealand.Sportsmen charged over drug hoax
''stuff.co.nz'', 16 December 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfgramm, Willie Living people New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Tonga national rugby league team players Swinton Lions players Counties Manukau rugby league team players Auckland rugby league team players New Zealand butchers 1970s births Bay Roskill Vikings players Rugby league halfbacks Bay Roskill Vikings coaches New Zealand rugby league coaches