# Mel Cooke > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mel_Cooke > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mel_Cooke.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Cooke > Source revision: 1290262123 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|New Zealand rugby league player (1934–2013)}} {{Hatnote|Not to be confused with the British organist, conductor, composer and teacher [Melville Cook](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Canterbury_rugby_league_team) |yearAstart = 1953 |yearAend = ?? |teamB = [South Island](/source/South_Island_rugby_league_team) |teamC = [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand_national_rugby_league_team) |yearCstart = 1959 |yearCend = 64 |appearancesC = 23 |triesC = 5 |goalsC = 0 |fieldgoalsC = 0 |pointsC = 15 |teamD = [NSW Country](/source/New_South_Wales_Country_rugby_league_team) |coachteamA = Hornby |coachyearAstart = 1963 |coachyearAend = 64 |coachteamB = Monaro |coachyearBstart = 1965 |coachyearBend = 68 |coachteamC = Hornby |coachyearCstart = 1969 |coachyearCend = 78 |coachteamD = [Canterbury](/source/Canterbury_rugby_league_team) |coachyearDstart = 1971 |coachyearDend = |updated = |source = {{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}}{{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}} }} '''Melville Lance Cooke'''[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'' (30 May 1934 – 5 September 2013) was a New Zealand [rugby league](/source/rugby_league) player who represented [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand_national_rugby_league_team) twenty-three times between 1959 and 1964. ==Playing career== Cooke was a member of the Hornby club in the [Canterbury Rugby League](/source/Canterbury_Rugby_League) competition. He was the [player-coach](/source/player-coach) when Hornby made the national tournament finals in 1962 and 1964 and when they won the [Thacker Shield](/source/Thacker_Shield) in 1964. A [Canterbury](/source/Canterbury_rugby_league_team) and [South Island](/source/South_Island_rugby_league_team) representative, in 1962 Cooke was captain of the first Canterbury team to win the [Northern Union Cup](/source/Rugby_League_Cup) from Auckland at the [Addington Showgrounds](/source/Rugby_League_Park).{{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](/source/The_Press)|accessdate=23 October 2011}} Cooke played in 23 games for [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand_national_rugby_league_team), including at the [1960 World Cup](/source/1960_Rugby_League_World_Cup). He played in eighteen consecutive tests between 1960 and 1964.[http://planetnz.com/palmheads/canterburyleague/ Significant Results in Canterbury Rugby League 1912-2009], planetnz.com. Cooke was the captain for the last three seasons before accepting a [player-coach](/source/player-coach) position in Canberra in 1965. ==Coaching career== Cooke took up a [player-coach](/source/player-coach) position with Monaro in 1965. While there he captained the side against the 1966 [British Lions](/source/Great_Britain_national_rugby_league_team) and was selected for [New South Wales Country](/source/New_South_Wales_Country_rugby_league_team). In 1969 Cooke returned to Hornby as coach. He was a Canterbury selector and coach in 1971 and again coached Hornby in 1978. ==Legacy== Cooke was named one of [New Zealand Rugby League](/source/New_Zealand_Rugby_League)'s "Legends of League" in 1995.[https://archive.today/20120911135536/http://www.nzrl.co.nz/legends-of-league.aspx Legends of League] ''NZRL'' In 2009 Cooke was named in the NZRL's team of the century.{{cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/155489|title=Graham is best in 100 years|work= [The Sunday Star-Times](/source/The_Sunday_Star-Times)|first=Lawrence|last=Smith |date=17 February 2009|accessdate=23 October 2011}} Cooke died in September 2013, aged 79.[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 ==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 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mel Cooke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Cooke) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Cooke?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.