Gerard James Stokes (1955 – 8 December 2020) was a New Zealand

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

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 * Co ...

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

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He was a coach of the Serbian national side, and father of England international cricketer

Ben Stokes Benjamin Andrew Stokes (born 4 June 1991) is an English international cricketer who is the captain of the England Test team and plays for the England Twenty20 International (T20I) team. In domestic cricket, he represents Durham and has playe ...

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, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

.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 R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

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.Dislocations. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. Retrieved 3 March 2013 A partial dislocation is refer ...

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 The Canterbury Country Cardinals were a New Zealand rugby league club that represented Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury in the Lion Red Cup from 1994 to 1996. They were administered by the Canterbury Rugby League. The Country Cardinals drew f ...

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: Places * 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 * Independ ...

. 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 lea ...

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 Chri ...

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 Zeala ...

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' tour of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

In 2002 IN, In or in may refer to: Places * 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 * Independ ...

, 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 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

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 port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

's bitter local rivals, after coach

Paul Crarey Paul Crarey (born 4 January 1966) also known by the nickname of "Cresta", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played at club level for Dalton ARLF Ba ...

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 Eur ...

. This move quickly proved beneficial to his club side as Whitehaven signed young Serbian national Soni Radovanović 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 occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...

in January 2020. He died at his home in Christchurch on 8 December 2020, aged 65.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Gerard 1955 births 2020 deaths Canterbury rugby league team coaches Canterbury rugby league team players Deaths from brain tumor Deaths from cancer in New Zealand Marist-Western Suburbs players 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 New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Serbia New Zealand expatriate rugby league players Expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England