Christopher "Mello" Melling (born 21 September 1984) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for England (Under-16s, and Under-18s), and as a for Great Britain, and at club level for Ashton Bears ARLFC (Under-15), Hindley ARLFC (16+), and in the Super League for the Wigan Warriors and Harlequins RL (renamed as the London Broncos in 2012), as a or , consequently he was considered a utility player. Early career Melling was born in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester, England. He was a pupil at Byrchall High School. played junior rugby league for the Ashton and Hindley junior clubs. Melling is a youth level international for England, touring Australia and New Zealand with England Under 16s in 2001 and also representing England's U18 Academy. Wigan Warriors Melling is a former Wigan Senior Academy captain who made several appearance for the Wigan first team. In 2004's Super League IX it had seemed that Melling's career was in doubt following a serious knee injury suffered playing for Wigan against Leeds at Headingley. Melling had been seen as a future star before having his season ended by a cruciate ligament injury. Upon his return to first team action in 2005's Super League X Chris made a further 10 first-grade appearances for the Wigan Warriors before picking up another knee injury requiring further surgery. Melling returned to full fitness in 2006, but found first team opportunities limited, due to the emergence of Chris Ashton at the club. Chris Melling moved to in Wigan's academy, impressing enough to be voted as the Under-21s Academy 'Player of the Year' for 2006. He left Wigan to pursue regular first team rugby league. Harlequins RL Melling was initially signed as a back-up to Chad Randall, however the Great Britain international made the position his own. He has been compared to Wade McKinnon with the youngster being defensively solid and dependable, with an eye for a gap bringing the ball out in attack. His move to Harlequins was to have seen the youngster undergo a positional change with a move to hooker. He had been previously employed throughout the backline, with most of his first team appearances coming as an outside back. Melling impressed in 2007, starting games at and throughout the backline and scoring four tries. In May 2007 Melling agreed to a new two-year deal with Harlequins