Born in Auckland in 1901, Cooke was the son of Albert Edward Cooke, a hairdresser, and his wife Sarah Jane Cooke (née Peterson).[2] Cooke was educated at Hamilton East Primary and Hamilton Boys' High School.[3]
Rugby union careeredit
Albert Cook passport application (1924)
Cooke joined the Grafton rugby union club in 1919 and graduated to senior club rugby in 1923. In that same year he made his Auckland debut and was a reserve for New Zealand against New South Wales. He was then part of the 1924–1925 "Invincibles" side that toured Great Britain. He again played for the All Blacks in 1925 and 1926 but withdrew from the 1928 tour of South Africa for business reasons.[3] He did play twice in 1928 for New Zealand against New South Wales before making his last Test appearances in 1930 against Great Britain.
Cooke played for the North Island in 1931 and spent 1932 with Hawke's Bay, before switching codes. Cooke also represented Wairarapa and Wellington while playing rugby union.[4] He finished his rugby union career with 121 tries in 131 first class matches.[3]
Rugby league careeredit
Cooke joined the Richmond Rovers club in the Auckland Rugby League competition in 1932 and made an immediate impact, racing away for three tries in the inter-island game only weeks later.[5]
Cooke approaching as Claude List tackles Stanley Smith in the first test at Carlaw Park in 1932.
[6][1] He coached Auckland in 1936 as well as coaching the Ponsonby United senior side after he retired from playing with Richmond Rovers club the previous year.[5][7] In the 1936 season the Ponsonby side finished with a 7 win, 6 loss record, coming 5th in the Fox Memorial competition. They were knocked out of the Roope Rooster in the first round of the same season but then went on to win the Phelan Shield after defeating Mount Albert, Papakura, Devonport, and Marist (in the final). In 1937 he was said to be going to coach Ponsonby once more but was rumoured to be going to coach the North Shore Rugby senior side as well. Ultimately he in fact came out of retirement and played two matches for Richmond Rovers before being injured in their round 1 match with Mount Albert and then giving the game away as a player. He then took on the coaching duties with the North Shore rugby senior side.
Later yearsedit
With the outbreak of World War II, Cooke joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force and played rugby union for that service in the 1940 Auckland club competition.[3] He died in Auckland in 1977.[3]
Referencesedit
^ abc"Bert Cooke". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
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For the New Zealand rugby footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s see Bert Cook rugby For the British football manager see Bert Cooke Albert Edward Cooke 5 October 1901 29 September 1977 was a New Zealand dual code international rugby footballer of the 1920s and 1930s who represented for New Zealand in both rugby union and rugby league 1 Bert CookeCooke in 1924Personal informationFull nameAlbert Edward CookeBorn 1901 10 05 5 October 1901Auckland New ZealandDied29 September 1977 1977 09 29 aged 75 Auckland New ZealandPlaying informationHeight1 75 m 5 ft 9 in Weight61 6 kg 136 lb Rugby unionPositionSecond five eighthClub Years Team Pld T G FG P 1923 1925 Grafton RFC 1927 29 Masterton Old Boys 1930 Hutt Wellington Total 0 0 0 0 0 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1923 25 Auckland 17 19 11 0 81 1924 Auckland XV 1 2 0 0 6 1924 30 New Zealand 44 8 39 4 3 0 123 12 1926 Hawke s Bay 5 10 0 0 30 1927 29 Wairarapa 34 31 16 2 132 1931 32 Hawke s Bay 1930 WellingtonRugby leaguePositionFullback Centre Stand offClub Years Team Pld T G FG P 1932 35 Richmond Rovers 48 17 10 0 71 1932 Ponsonby United XIII 1 3 0 0 9 Total 49 20 10 0 80 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1932 35 Auckland 12 13 0 0 39 1932 35 North Island 3 7 0 0 21 1932 35 New Zealand 5 2 0 0 6Coaching informationRepresentative Years Team Gms W D L W 1935 36 Ponsonby United 36 19 1 16 53 1936 Auckland 3 1 0 2 33Source 1 Contents 1 Early years 2 Rugby union career 3 Rugby league career 4 Later years 5 References 6 External linksEarly years editBorn in Auckland in 1901 Cooke was the son of Albert Edward Cooke a hairdresser and his wife Sarah Jane Cooke nee Peterson 2 Cooke was educated at Hamilton East Primary and Hamilton Boys High School 3 Rugby union career edit nbsp Albert Cook passport application 1924 Cooke joined the Grafton rugby union club in 1919 and graduated to senior club rugby in 1923 In that same year he made his Auckland debut and was a reserve for New Zealand against New South Wales He was then part of the 1924 1925 Invincibles side that toured Great Britain He again played for the All Blacks in 1925 and 1926 but withdrew from the 1928 tour of South Africa for business reasons 3 He did play twice in 1928 for New Zealand against New South Wales before making his last Test appearances in 1930 against Great Britain Cooke played for the North Island in 1931 and spent 1932 with Hawke s Bay before switching codes Cooke also represented Wairarapa and Wellington while playing rugby union 4 He finished his rugby union career with 121 tries in 131 first class matches 3 Rugby league career edit nbsp nbsp Cooke joined the Richmond Rovers club in the Auckland Rugby League competition in 1932 and made an immediate impact racing away for three tries in the inter island game only weeks later 5 nbsp Cooke approaching as Claude List tackles Stanley Smith in the first test at Carlaw Park in 1932 He was selected for New Zealand that year against the Great Britain Lions Cooke also represented Auckland and captained New Zealand in two Test matches against Australia in 1935 nbsp 6 1 He coached Auckland in 1936 as well as coaching the Ponsonby United senior side after he retired from playing with Richmond Rovers club the previous year 5 7 In the 1936 season the Ponsonby side finished with a 7 win 6 loss record coming 5th in the Fox Memorial competition They were knocked out of the Roope Rooster in the first round of the same season but then went on to win the Phelan Shield after defeating Mount Albert Papakura Devonport and Marist in the final In 1937 he was said to be going to coach Ponsonby once more but was rumoured to be going to coach the North Shore Rugby senior side as well Ultimately he in fact came out of retirement and played two matches for Richmond Rovers before being injured in their round 1 match with Mount Albert and then giving the game away as a player He then took on the coaching duties with the North Shore rugby senior side Later years editWith the outbreak of World War II Cooke joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force and played rugby union for that service in the 1940 Auckland club competition 3 He died in Auckland in 1977 3 References edit a b c Bert Cooke rugbyleagueproject org 31 December 2017 Retrieved 1 January 2018 McLean T P Cooke Albert Edward Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Ministry for Culture and Heritage Retrieved 29 September 2015 a b c d e Luxford Bob Bert Cooke New Zealand Rugby Union Retrieved 29 September 2015 Statistics at espnscrum com espnscrum com 31 December 2010 Retrieved 1 January 2011 a b Coffey John and Bernie Wood Auckland 100 years of rugby league 1909 2009 2009 ISBN 978 1 86969 366 4 p 103 COOKE Albert Edward 1932 1935 Kiwi 219 Archived 1 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine nzleague co nz A E Cooke Player to Official Richmond Club s Gesture Auckland Star Volume LXVII Issue 49 27 February 1936 p 23 Retrieved 5 February 2021 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bert Cooke rugby Bert Cooke at the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame nbsp Bert Cooke at ESPNscrum nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bert Cooke rugby amp oldid 1210536427, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
