{{Short description|New Zealand rugby league player (1934–2013)}} {{Hatnote|Not to be confused with the British organist, conductor, composer and teacher Melville Cook.}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox rugby league biography |name = Mel Cooke |fullname = Melville Lance Cooke |nickname = |image = |imagesize = |caption = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|05|30|df=yes}} |birth_place = Christchurch, New Zealand |death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|09|05|1934|05|30|df=yes}} |death_place = Christchurch, New Zealand |retired = yes |height = {{convert|178|cm|ftin|abbr=on}} |weight = {{convert|86|kg|stlb|abbr=on}} |position = {{rlp|SH|LF}} |club1 = Hornby |year1start = 19?? |year1end = 64 |club2 = Monaro |year2start = 1965 |year2end = 68 |teamA = Canterbury |yearAstart = 1953 |yearAend = ?? |teamB = South Island |teamC = New Zealand |yearCstart = 1959 |yearCend = 64 |appearancesC = 23 |triesC = 5 |goalsC = 0 |fieldgoalsC = 0 |pointsC = 15 |teamD = NSW Country |coachteamA = Hornby |coachyearAstart = 1963 |coachyearAend = 64 |coachteamB = Monaro |coachyearBstart = 1965 |coachyearBend = 68 |coachteamC = Hornby |coachyearCstart = 1969 |coachyearCend = 78 |coachteamD = Canterbury |coachyearDstart = 1971 |coachyearDend = |updated = |source = <ref name="Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/mel-cooke/summary.html|title=Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org|publisher=rugbyleagueproject.org|date=31 December 2017|accessdate=1 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/coaches/mel-cooke/summary.html|title=Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org|publisher=rugbyleagueproject.org|date=31 December 2017|accessdate=1 January 2018}}</ref> }}
'''Melville Lance Cooke'''<ref>[http://nzleague.co.nz/kiwis/player_profile.php?letter=C&id=384 COOKE, Melville Lance 1959 - 64 - Kiwi #384] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719143455/http://nzleague.co.nz/kiwis/player_profile.php?letter=C&id=384 |date=2011-07-19}} ''nzleague.co.nz''</ref> (30 May 1934 – 5 September 2013) was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand twenty-three times between 1959 and 1964.<ref name="Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org"/>
==Playing career== 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.<ref name=kiwi />
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.<ref name="Stuff.co.nz_2458687">{{cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/sport/2458687/Nothing-better-than-bettering-Auckland|title=Nothing better than bettering Auckland|author=Smith, Tony|date=30 May 2009|work= The Press|accessdate=23 October 2011}}</ref>
Cooke played in 23 games for New Zealand, including at the 1960 World Cup. He played in eighteen consecutive tests between 1960 and 1964.<ref name=kiwi>[http://planetnz.com/palmheads/canterburyleague/ Significant Results in Canterbury Rugby League 1912-2009], planetnz.com.</ref> Cooke was the captain for the last three seasons before accepting a player-coach position in Canberra in 1965.
==Coaching career== 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.<ref name=kiwi />
In 1969 Cooke returned to Hornby as coach. He was a Canterbury selector and coach in 1971 and again coached Hornby in 1978.<ref name=kiwi />
==Legacy== Cooke was named one of New Zealand Rugby League's "Legends of League" in 1995.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120911135536/http://www.nzrl.co.nz/legends-of-league.aspx Legends of League] ''NZRL''</ref>
In 2009 Cooke was named in the NZRL's team of the century.<ref name="Stuff.co.nz_155489">{{cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/155489|title=Graham is best in 100 years|work= The Sunday Star-Times|first=Lawrence|last=Smith |date=17 February 2009|accessdate=23 October 2011}}</ref>
Cooke died in September 2013, aged 79.<ref>[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11124889&ref=rss League world mourns Kiwi legend] ''nzherald.co.nz'', 15 September 2013</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{The New Zealand Rugby League Team of the Century}} {{New Zealand 1960 Rugby League World Cup squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Mel}} Category:1934 births Category:2013 deaths Category:20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Category:Canterbury rugby league team coaches Category:Canterbury rugby league team players Category:Country New South Wales rugby league team players Category:Hornby Panthers players Category:New Zealand national rugby league team captains Category:New Zealand national rugby league team players Category:New Zealand rugby league administrators Category:New Zealand rugby league coaches Category:New Zealand rugby league players Category:Rugby league halfbacks Category:Rugby league locks Category:Rugby league players from Christchurch Category:South Island rugby league team players