Mark Wycliffe Elia (born 25 December 1962)ELIA, Mark Wycliffe 1985 - 89 - Kiwi #581
''nzleague.co.nz'' is former professional

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 represented both

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 ...

and

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabit ...

Background

Elia was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand.

Playing career

During his long career, Elia played for the

Te Atatu Roosters The Te Atatu Roosters is a rugby league club based in Te Atatū Peninsula, Te Atatū, New Zealand. They participate in the Auckland Rugby League competition. They currently have 25 teams across schoolboy, junior and senior grades. The Roosters ...

Northcote Tigers The Northcote Tigers are a rugby league club based in Northcote, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1910 as the Northcote Warriors though they became known as the Northcote Ramblers shortly afterwards.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Go ...

Kent Invicta Kent Invicta is a defunct rugby league team that were based in Maidstone, Kent and later Southend in Essex. History Kent Invicta RLFC and Southend Invicta RLFC ''Kent Invicta RLFC'' was formed by a local businessman, Paul Faires, and Jim Thompso ...

, Southend Invicta, St. Helens,

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

, Halifax, the

Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

and RC Albi in France.

John Player Special Trophy Final appearances

Mark Elia played at in St. Helens' 15-14 victory over

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in the

1987–88 John Player Special Trophy This was the seventeenth season for the League Cup, known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship purposes. St. Helens won the final, beating Leeds by the score of 15-14. The match was played at Central Park, Wigan. The attendance was ...

Final during the 1987–88 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

on Saturday 9 January 1988.

Representative career

Elia represented the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

between 1985 and 1989, playing in ten tests and thirty seven games. He scored five test tries and thirty overall for the Kiwis.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' In 1995 Elia represented

at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

Cricket

During the 1990 season, Elia played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

in the United States. During this period he umpired a friendly match that took place in America between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Later years

In 1996 Elia coached the Hawkes Bay Unicorns 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 ...

. He later retired to

Cootamundra, New South Wales Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. ...

. He will coach the

in the 2015

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

competition.

References

External links

Canterbury Bulldogs profileSaints Heritage Society profileSaints sign Kiwi star
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elia, Mark 1962 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Expatriate rugby league players in France Halifax Panthers players Hawke's Bay rugby league team coaches Hawke's Bay rugby league team players Kent Invicta players New Zealand cricket umpires New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in France New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Northcote Tigers coaches Northcote Tigers players Otago rugby league team players People educated at St Paul's College, Auckland Racing Club Albi XIII players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league wingers Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan expatriate rugby league players in Australia Samoan rugby league players St Helens R.F.C. players Te Atatu Roosters players Widnes Vikings players