Mark Stephen Bill Cooksley (born 11 April 1971 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand) is a former professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player and

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. Cooksley was the tallest All Black ever at 2.05 metres and 125 kg, until this was surpassed by

Dominic Bird Dominic Bird (born 9 April 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock and has represented the All Blacks. He has also played for Canterbury and Wellington in the Mitre 10 Cup, the Crusaders and Chiefs in Super Rugby. He has a ...

(2.08 metres), who made his test debut for the All Blacks in 2013. He had a long All Black career, spanning from 1992 until 2001. Despite this, Cooksley only played in 23 All Black matches, and only 11 All Black tests. This could be attributed to many injuries he sustained during his career, as well as

Robin Brooke Robin Matthew Brooke (born 10 December 1966 in Warkworth, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand rugby player. He played for the New Zealand national rugby union team in the 1990s, playing many tests alongside brother Zinzan Brooke. Career B ...

and Ian Jones often being the favoured locking pair during this time. A descendant of

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 165, ...

, he regularly played for New Zealand Māori throughout his career, from 1992 up until 2001, when he featured in the match against 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 so ...

. In 1995, Cooksley gained another distinction when he was a replacement on the end of year tour of France; in his one appearance on tour he became the first All Black to be shown a

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

, with Irish referee Gordon Black apparently unaware that the red and yellow card system did not then apply to international rugby. In 1997, having been out of the All Black side since the 1995 tour of France, Cooksley was drafted into the

Wellington Hurricanes The Hurricanes ( ; formerly the Wellington Hurricanes) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in Super Rugby. The Hurricanes were formed to represent the lower North Island, including the East Coast, H ...

for the

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

. Cooksley consistently played well that season, helping the Hurricanes to reach the semi-finals, and he was rewarded with an All Black recall for the end of year tour to Britain and Ireland, although he only featured in the mid-week matches. In 2000, it appeared that his rugby career was over as he struggled to make the Waikato NPC side. However, he was selected for the Chiefs side for the Super 12 in 2001, and earned an All Black recall that year, where he played in two Tri-Nations matches. A serious back injury forced Cooksley to retire at the end of that year. Cooksley now works as the General Manager for the Central North Island branch of Directionz in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. His hobbies include being really tall, dunking a basketball without jumping and being really, really tall. He has also been involved in coaching rugby at club level.

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* 1971 births Living people New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union locks Māori All Blacks players Waikato rugby union players Counties Manukau rugby union players Chiefs (rugby union) players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Auckland People educated at Manurewa High School {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1970s-stub