Mel Cooke
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Melville Lance Cooke | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 30 May 1934 Christchurch, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 5 September 2013 (aged 79) Christchurch, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 86 kg (13 st 8 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Scrum-half, Loose forward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Melville Lance Cooke[3] (30 May 1934 – 5 September 2013) was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand twenty three times between 1959 and 1964.[1]
Playing career
[edit]Cooke was a member of the Hornby club in the Canterbury Rugby League competition. He was the player-coach when Hornby made the national tournament finals in 1962 and 1964 and when they won the Thacker Shield in 1964.[4]
A Canterbury and South Island representative, in 1962 Cooke was captain of the first Canterbury team to win the Northern Union Cup from Auckland at the Addington Showgrounds.[5]
Cooke played in 23 games for New Zealand, including at the 1960 World Cup. He played in eighteen consecutive tests between 1960 and 1964.[4] Cooke was the captain for the last three seasons before accepting a player-coach position in Canberra in 1965.
Coaching career
[edit]Cooke took up a player-coach position with Monaro in 1965. While there he captained the side against the 1966 British Lions and was selected for New South Wales Country.[4]
In 1969 Cooke returned to Hornby as coach. He was a Canterbury selector and coach in 1971 and again coached Hornby in 1978.[4]
Legacy
[edit]Cooke was named one of New Zealand Rugby League's "Legends of League" in 1995.[6]
In 2009 Cooke was named in the NZRL's team of the century.[7]
Cooke died in September 2013, aged 79.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ COOKE, Melville Lance 1959 - 64 - Kiwi #384 Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
- ^ a b c d Significant Results in Canterbury Rugby League 1912-2009
- ^ Smith, Tony (30 May 2009). "Nothing better than bettering Auckland". The Press. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
- ^ Legends of League NZRL
- ^ "Graham is best in 100 years". The Sunday Star-Times. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
- ^ League world mourns Kiwi legend nzherald.co.nz, 15 September 2013
- 1934 births
- 2013 deaths
- New Zealand rugby league administrators
- New Zealand rugby league players
- Canterbury rugby league team players
- New Zealand national rugby league team players
- New Zealand rugby league coaches
- Country New South Wales rugby league team players
- Canterbury rugby league team coaches
- Hornby Panthers players
- New Zealand national rugby league team captains
- South Island rugby league team players
- Rugby league locks
- Rugby league halfbacks