[7] Dick Marks played in the centres for Australia throughout the "Thornett Era", which saw the national side rise to new heights of success on the international stage.
He debuted in the Second Test at Dunedin in the centres alongside Beres Ellwood, just two days after turning 20, and impressed with his fierce tackling.
The tour featured another historic high for Australian rugby, with a 29-5 victory in the Third Test at Wellington, which remains the highest margin loss for New Zealand at home to this day.
He then played in every test of the 1966–67 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France which saw an historic first victory over Wales and a record win over England.
In the seven year period prior to the National Coaching Scheme, Australia had a 14% success rate over twenty-nine Test matches.
Over the 110 Test matches since the introduction of the Scheme, it lifted its strike rate to 61% overall and to 72% in the last twenty nine encounters of that period.The Marks directorship established a number of other innovations.
Russel Tulloch of Norths Rugby wrote for The Australian newspaper that under the Marks regime: "development officers used the national coaching process, the ground-breaking and world-recognised program developed under the auspices of David Clark from the Australian Institute of Sport, run by Dick Marks and Brian O’Shea, and sponsored by Rothmans.
It provided a consistent and practical methodology and played a significant role in improving the quality of coaching of rugby in Australia...
[12] Rothman's sponsorship of the program ended in the mid 1990s, and Marks was invited to continue in his position of National Director of Coaching on the payroll of the Australian Rugby Union.
Nevertheless, wrote Meares and Howell, "the foundation laid by the coaching scheme ensured that outstanding Wallaby performances carried on through to the 1999 World Cup win.
[7] Marks has made a name as a public speaker and master of ceremonies, "arguably the finest sports MC in the land" according to Meares and Howell.
[9] He remains influential in rugby circles, and in 2019 endorsed the #LetsFixAustralianRugby campaign to reform administration of the game in Australia, telling the Sydney Morning Herald: "We had a great system which won us two Rugby World Cups and produced Alan Jones, Bob Dwyer and Rod Macqueen.
[6][7] In 2024, Marks became a Member of the Order of Australia in the King's Birthday Honours List for his "significant service to rugby as a player, coach, and administrator".