[1] Cooke was a member of the Hornby club in the Canterbury Rugby League competition.
He was the player-coach when Hornby made the national tournament finals in 1962 and 1964 and when they won the Thacker Shield in 1964.
[5] Cooke played in 23 games for New Zealand, including at the 1960 World Cup.
[4] Cooke was the captain for the last three seasons before accepting a player-coach position in Canberra in 1965.
While there he captained the side against the 1966 British Lions and was selected for New South Wales Country.