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Nakia Cockatoo

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Nakia Cockatoo
Personal information
Full name Nakia Cockatoo
Date of birth (1996-10-23) 23 October 1996 (age 28)
Original team(s) NT Thunder (NEAFL)
Draft No. 10, 2014 national draft
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 90 kg (198 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder / Forward
Club information
Current club Retired
Number 12
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2015–2020 Geelong 34 (25)
2021–2023 Brisbane Lions 15 (7)
Total 49 (32)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Nakia Cockatoo (/nəˈkə/ nə-KY;[1] born 23 October 1996) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions and Geelong in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

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Cockatoo was born in the Northern Territory into a family of Indigenous Australian descent (Jupangati and Marrithiyal)[2] and was raised the small town of Humpty Doo. He began playing football at Auskick level with the Humpty Doo Bombers.[3] He played his junior football with Southern Districts in the NTFL and the Northern Territory Thunder in the NEAFL.[4]

He has strong family connections to Queensland with his surname deriving from his great-great-great grandfather who was known as 'Old Man Cockatoo' in the Cape York Peninsula[5] as well as three of his Queensland-based uncles Che, David and Donald playing professional football in the AFL.[6] Several female cousins of his are also involved in the Gold Coast Suns' developmental football academy.[7]

AFL career

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Cockatoo was drafted with pick 10 in the 2014 AFL Draft,[8] by Geelong Football Club. He made his debut in the first round of the 2015 AFL season against Hawthorn.[9]

At the conclusion of the 2020 AFL season, Cockatoo was traded to the Brisbane Lions,[10] where he would play 15 games before retiring at the conclusion of the 2023 season.

Statistics

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Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2015 Geelong 5 11 3 5 47 37 84 29 19 0.3 0.5 4.3 3.4 7.6 2.6 1.7
2016 Geelong 5 10 11 5 74 42 116 28 39 1.1 0.5 7.4 4.2 11.6 2.8 3.9
2017 Geelong 5 11 11 11 73 30 103 24 42 1.0 1.0 6.6 2.7 9.4 2.2 3.8
2018 Geelong 5 2 0 2 14 11 25 6 4 0.0 1.0 7.0 5.5 12.5 3.0 2.0
2019 Geelong 5 0
2020 Geelong 5 0
2021 Brisbane Lions 12 7 5 1 18 24 42 5 22 0.7 0.1 2.6 3.4 6.0 0.7 3.1
2022 Brisbane Lions 12 8 2 2 49 27 76 22 22 0.3 0.3 6.1 3.4 9.5 2.8 2.8
2023 Brisbane Lions 12 0
Career[11] 49 32 26 275 171 446 114 148 0.7 0.5 5.6 3.5 9.1 2.3 3.0

References

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  1. ^ "How to say the AFL's trickiest names". Australian Football League. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  2. ^ "AFL Players' Indigenous Map 2020" (PDF). AFL Players Association. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  3. ^ AFL Record. Round 22, 2022. pg 40
  4. ^ Schubert, Steven (28 November 2014). "Nakia Cockatoo from NT Thunder snapped up by Geelong Cats in AFL draft". ABC Online. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  5. ^ Harms, John. "Force for good: how Indigenous Australians have enriched football". Audio on Demand. National Museum of Australia. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Geelong Cats pick up four young guns". Geelong Advertiser. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Yokayi Footy: Name of the game for footy blood rich Cockatoo-Motlap twins". AFL Women's. 3 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  8. ^ Auciello, Michael (27 November 2014). "AFL Draft: Geelong Cats pick up four young guns". Geelong Advertiser. News Corp Australia. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  9. ^ McNicol, Adam (4 April 2015). "Final Cats side v Hawks". geelongcats.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  10. ^ "Lions land former No.10 pick from Cats". AFL Media. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  11. ^ "Nakia Cockatoo". AFL Tables. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
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