Nakia Cockatoo
Personal information
Full name Nakia Cockatoo
Date of birth (1996-10-23) 23 October 1996
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 (/nəˈkaɪə/ nə-KY-ə;[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

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

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

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
2015Geelong5 113547378429190.30.54.33.47.62.61.7
2016Geelong5 10115744211628391.10.57.44.211.62.83.9
2017Geelong5 111111733010324421.01.06.62.79.42.23.8
2018Geelong5 202141125640.01.07.05.512.53.02.0
2019Geelong5 0––––––––––––––
2020Geelong5 0––––––––––––––
2021Brisbane Lions12 7511824425220.70.12.63.46.00.73.1
2022Brisbane Lions12 82249277622220.30.36.13.49.52.82.8
2023Brisbane Lions12 0––––––––––––––
Career[11] 4932262751714461141480.70.55.63.59.12.33.0

References

  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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