Mal Cochrane
| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Malcolm Cochrane | |||||
| Nickname | Mighty Mal | |||||
| Born | 3 April 1961 Taree, New South Wales, Australia | |||||
| Playing information | ||||||
| Position | Hooker | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1982–1990 | Manly-Warringah | 118 | 19 | 167 | 0 | 410 |
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1987 | Country Origin | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
Mal Cochrane (born 3 April 1961 in Taree, New South Wales) is an Indigenous Australian former professional rugby league player for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. Cochrane primarily played at hooker.
Playing career
Junior career
Cochrane played hockey and cricket as well as rugby league while at school and represented his state in all three sports at schoolboy level.[1]
Cochrane captained the Australian Schoolboys tour of England and France in 1979, scoring twelve tries and seven goals. He was also rated the best forward of the tour after playing at hooker, lock and prop.
Senior career
Although he originally discussed a career with Canterbury-Bankstown following the 1979 tour, he signed with Manly-Warringah, the club of his childhood hero, Bob Fulton, who in 1983 would also become the Sea Eagles coach.[1]
Cochrane played in one grand final with Manly, the 1987 Grand Final against the Canberra Raiders in the final ever Grand Final to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Manly won the match 18-8, but after receiving a knee to the head in the first half, Cochrane remembered nothing of the game. Following the grand final victory he traveled with Manly to England for the 1987 World Club Challenge against English champions, Wigan. In a try-less game, the home side shocked the Winfield Cup premiers 8-2 in front of 36,895 fans at Central Park.
Injuries in the last years of Cochrane's first-grade career reduced his appearances to only 28 games over the final three seasons. Cochrane retired from first-grade at the end of the 1990 season and spent a year playing for the Young Cherrypickers in the NSW Group 9 competition.[1]
Post-playing career
In 1996, Cochrane coached the Australian Aboriginal rugby league team on their tour of Great Britain.[1]
A policeman for ten years, Cochrane now works for the Public Service Association of New South Wales, assisting Indigenous Australians in the workplace and is a member of the National Rugby League Judiciary.[1][2]
Accolades
Cochrane was the first hooker to win the Rothmans Medal (awarded from 1968 to 1996), in 1986, and was considered unlucky to miss a spot on the 1986 Kangaroo Tour (Balmain's Benny Elias, a NSW State of Origin hooker in 1985, toured as the #2 behind Penrith's incumbent test rake Royce Simmons). Subsequent medal winning hookers include Danny Buderus and Cameron Smith. He was also awarded the Dally M Hooker of the Year in 1986 and 1987.
In August, 2008, Cochrane was named at hooker in the Indigenous Team of the Century.[3]
References
- Tony Adams. "Legend Q&A". Rugby League Week. Sydney, NSW: PBLMedia (6 August 2008): pgs 30–31.
- Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson (2007). The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. Wetherill Park, New South Wales: Gary Allen Pty Ltd. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-877082-93-1.
Footnotes
- 1 2 3 4 5 Tony Adams. "Legend Q&A". Rugby League Week. Sydney, NSW: PBLMedia (6 August 2008): pgs 30–31.
- ↑ Jim Marr (2003-07-01). "Making the Hard Yards". Workers Online. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
- ↑ "Modern stars join greats in Indigenous Team of Century". ABC News. 2008-08-09. Retrieved 2008-08-10.