Australian Football

Big, burly and almost equally capable of the magical, the mundane and, to be perfectly frank, the mad, James Cook lit up the football scene for a comparatively brief period in the 1990s. When asked which of the footballers he had coached was the most difficult to deal with, Carlton’s ‘Coach of the Century’ David Parkin answered almost immediately, “James Cook - on a coachability scale of one to a hundred, I’d give him a two”.

Originally from North Hobart, Cook arrived at Carlton in 1990, if not exactly to a fanfare, then certainly to some high expectations. However, despite some stand-out efforts, he never really settled at Princes Park, and after 25 games and 35 goals in 1994-5 he was traded to Footscray. He produced the best and most productive football of his career with the Bulldogs, only to lose his way somewhat towards the end of his stint, which lasted from 1996 to 1999, and saw him play 49 AFL games and score 98 goals.

Crossing to Melbourne in 2000 he managed just three games and eight goals before ankle problems brought the curtain down on a career which, as is so often the case in the capricious world of big time football, ultimately failed to live up to expectations.

Author - John Devaney