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 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 represented both

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 ...

and

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

Background

Elia was born 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.

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, New Zealand. They participate in the Auckland Rugby League competition. They currently have 25 teams across schoolboy, junior and senior grades. The Roosters premier team began th ...

Northcote Tigers The Northcote Tigers are a rugby league club based in Northcote, Auckland, 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 A ...

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 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

, Halifax, the

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

and

RC Albi Racing Club Albi XIII originally called Racing Club Albigeois XIII and more recently also known as Albi Tigers are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Albi in the Occitanie region in southern France. Formed in 1934 the club compete in ...

in France.

John Player Special Trophy Final appearances

Mark Elia played left-, i.e. number 4, in St. Helens' 15-14 victory over

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in the 1987–88 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1987–88 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

on Saturday 9 January 1988.

Representative career

Elia represented the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) 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 native bird of ...

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 concept i ...

Cricket

During the 1990 season, Elia played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

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 Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Later years

In 1996 Elia coached the

Hawkes Bay Unicorns The Hawke's Bay rugby league team are a New Zealand rugby league team that represents the Hawke's Bay Rugby League in New Zealand Rugby League competitions. They are nicknamed the Unicorns. They competed in the Lion Red Cup between 1994 and 1996 ...

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. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

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 Australia Expatriate rugby league players in England Expatriate rugby league players in France Halifax R.L.F.C. 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 New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players 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 wingers Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players St Helens R.F.C. players Te Atatu Roosters players Widnes Vikings players