Michael Terrance Cook (born 23 April 1962) is a former

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 ...

n professional rugby union international, who also spent time playing professional rugby league.

Biography

Born in Caulfield, Cook grew up in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, where his family moved when he was around pre-school age;Brave and Game Biographies : Michael Terrance Cook
Cook went to school at St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, where he played inside centre in his age group teams. Cook played 88 matches for the school, including 24 for the First XV alongside future Australian players Michael Lynagh and Damian Frawley during Terrace's five-year premiership run between 1977 and 1981. In 1979 Cook was selected in the Australian Schools team and played 2 schoolboys Tests against England Schools at Chatswood Oval in Sydney on 1 September 1979 and at Ballymore in Brisbane on 9 September 1979. In 1980, Cook played for the Queensland representative team, which, since 1984, at 22 years, he represented also at international level: he played some matches for the state team, like the matches against the national teams of

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In 1986, Cook debuted for the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

in a test match against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, at

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

: it was the first of 11 test matches until 1988, including the only match, played in the

1987 Rugby World Cup The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two semi-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 mat ...

, won against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

42-23 in the first group, during which Cook broke an arm, thus being unavailable for the rest of the competition. In 1989 Cook became a professional player and moved to

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 ...

, for

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

; in three seasons of the

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission Limited (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League Limited known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australi ...

, he collected 16 caps with two tries. Currently, he works as a teacher in the

Marist College Ashgrove Marist College Ashgrove (abbreviated as MCA) is an Independent school, independent Roman Catholicism in Australia, Roman Catholic Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary school for Sin ...

Notes

External links

Michael Cook international stats
1962 births Living people Australia international rugby union players Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Australian schoolteachers Sportsmen from Victoria (state) Rugby union number eights Rugby league players from Melbourne Rugby union players from Melbourne Sydney Roosters players 1987 Rugby World Cup players People educated at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace Queensland rugby union team players Footballers who switched code Rugby league locks 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyunion-bio-1960s-stub