Gerard James Stokes (1956 – 8 December 2020) was a New Zealand

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

ed in the 1980s through to the 2010s, who represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He was a coach of the

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

national side. He was the father of English international cricketer

Ben Stokes Benjamin Andrew Stokes (born 4 June 1991) is an English international cricketer who is List of England cricket captains, the captain of the England cricket team, England Test cricket, Test team. Stokes has played for England in all three forma ...

Playing career

Stokes began playing rugby league early in life. In high school, he would sneak out of his boarding school in New Zealand every Saturday morning to play rugby league for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

.Caned Until I Bleed for Love of Rugby League
''The Whitehaven News'', 15 May 2008 He was a Schoolboy Kiwi in 1971 before later representing

in four non-Test matches on the 1982 tour of Australia and playing for

Workington Town Workington Town is a semi-professional rugby league club based in Workington, West Cumbria, England. The club plays home games at Derwent Park and competes in the RFL League One, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, Briti ...

in 1982–83.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. In one match, Stokes

dislocated A joint dislocation, also called luxation, occurs when there is an abnormal separation in the joint, where two or more bones meet. A partial dislocation is referred to as a subluxation. Dislocations are commonly caused by sudden trauma to th ...

his finger, and asked for an amputation in order to play again more quickly.

Coaching career

In 1994, he was appointed coach of the new Canterbury Country Cardinals in the

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

. The team made the finals in 1994, but finished tenth

in 1995 IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

. In 1996, he was appointed head coach of the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby le ...

representative side, facing irregular provincial competition. In 2000, he coached the

Canterbury Bulls The Canterbury rugby league team (also known as the Canterbury Bulls) are a rugby league team who represent the Canterbury Rugby League. They currently compete in the Albert Baskerville Trophy. Their home ground is Orangetheory Stadium in Chris ...

to a victory in the inaugural

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Ze ...

grand final. He was also named New Zealand coach of the year that season. He applied to coach New Zealand in 2001 but was overlooked for Gary Freeman. Instead he was appointed Assistant Coach and a co-selector, working under Freeman, and in 2003 he was in charge of the

New Zealand 'A' The New Zealand Residents (also previously known as New Zealand 'A', New Zealand XIII, the Lion Red Cup XIII and currently known as the Bartercard Premiership Selection) are a New Zealand rugby league football representative side that is selected f ...

tour of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

In 2002 IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

, Stokes moved north and coached the Wellington Franchise in the Bartercard Cup. He re-applied for the job at the end of the 2003 season but wanted too much money and so was not reappointed. Instead, at the end of the New Zealand 'A' tour, he was offered the opportunity to stay in England and coach his old club,

. The club was in a state of disrepair and only seven players were contracted to the club. Stokes rebuilt the squad. However he was later fired by the club over an alleged disciplinary breach, despite being cleared by a RFL investigation. The club later agreed to a £14,000 pay-off days before a court case brought by Stokes was due to be heard. In early 2008, he was offered the job of coaching

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

's bitter local rivals, after coach Paul Crarey left the club citing personal health issues. In late 2008, he travelled to Serbia and helped the national side prepare for the

RLEF Euro Med Challenge The Euro-Med Challenge is an international rugby league football competition. The competition is organized by the Rugby League European Federation and is designed to promote the sport of rugby league in Europe and the Mediterranean Region. The Eu ...

. This move quickly proved beneficial to his club side as Whitehaven signed young Serbian national

Soni Radovanović Soni Radovanović (born ) is a Serbian professional rugby league footballer who has played in the 2000s and 2010s. He has played at representative level for Serbia (captain), and at club level for RC Lescure-Arthes XIII (in Lescure-d'Albigeois, ...

in January 2009. Stokes was sacked in August 2010, after winning only 1 game in 14, with a disastrous record 13 game losing streak that ultimately led to Whitehaven's relegation from the Championship. In 2013, he and wife Deb had moved from rugby league and back to Christchurch to a job working with young offenders; they were also involved in the restoration of Christchurch following the 2011 earthquake.

Personal life

Stokes had two children from his first marriage, to Ferne Caldwell, and a son (England international cricket player

) with his second wife, Deb. In August 2020 Stokes revealed that he had been diagnosed with

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

in January 2020. He died at his home in Christchurch on 8 December 2020, aged 64.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Gerard 1956 births 2020 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Canterbury rugby league team coaches Canterbury rugby league team players Deaths from brain cancer in New Zealand Marist-Western Suburbs players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Serbia New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players Place of birth missing Rugby league props Serbia national rugby league team coaches Wellington rugby league team coaches Workington Town coaches Workington Town players