004: Mark Tookey tells us his biggest challenge was not having a regimented schedule to follow

004: Mark Tookey tells us his biggest challenge was not having a regimented schedule to follow

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He had a cult following at the NRL clubs he played at. He was born in Paddington, Sydney and played for 9 seasons in the NRL & 3 season in the English super league totalling 191 ARL, NRL & Super League appearances.

The club he played at were South Queensland Crushers 1996 & 1997, Parramatta Eels 1998 & 1999, NZWarriors 2000 to 2004, Castleford Tigers 2004, London Broncoes 2005 & London Harlequins 2006. He had a colt following wherever he went. When he took the ball up you heard his Chant...

Since retiring from his professional Rugby League Career he has worked
as a development Officer & Recruitment for the Canberra Raiders, Ran for as an
independent candidate in the Logan City Elections in 2016 & now runs his own business inthe sporting & events field still based in the Southern area of QLD.

Playing information

Height

183 cm (6 ft 0 in)

Weight

115 kg (18 st 2 lb)

Position

Prop

Club

Years

Team

Pld

T

G

FG

P

1996–97

South Qld Crushers

18

3

0

0

12

1998–99

Parramatta Eels

40

4

0

0

16

2000–04

NZ Warriors

67

9

0

0

36

2004

Castleford Tigers

10

1

0

0

4

2005–06

Harlequins RL

56

6

0

0

24

Total

191

23

0

0

92

Key take outs

  1. Biggest challenge was not having a schedule to follow after retiring
  2. Took about 2 years to adjust & fit back into the real world
  3. There was no player welfare back when Mark retired.
  4. He had no qualifications, no experience & couldn't get a job
  5. He didn't really value money as he earnt a lot of money from a young age
  6. Gambled a fair bit & continued to gambel a bit after footy until he realized he couldn't afford it anymore now he was in the real world
  7. He need to really stop and think about things after retirement
  8. He seeked out an old mentor that got him into the NRL to help him a bit after his retirement

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