Lucas Cook (No.21)

Career
Debut: Yet to debut
Career matches: 0
Career goals: 0
 
2011
Matches: 0
Goals: 0
Kicks: 0
Marks: 0
Handballs: 0
Disposals: 0
Tackles: 0

Todd Viney’s season assessment
Lucas was our first round draft pick in 2010 (No.12 overall) and played as a tall forward. He found it hard to get a lot of exposure in the VFL, because of several talls in the forward line, including Brendan Fevola. But he really developed his game and showed some elite work rate. He is a good decision-maker and with another full pre-season, I’m sure he’ll get an opportunity to play next year.

Round-by-round assessment
Comments made by 2011 Melbourne coaching staff members Mark Williams, Brad Gotch and Kelly O’Donnell

AFL: Round 1 v Sydney Swans
Rested (VFL practice match)

VFL: Round 1 v Geelong
Lucas struggled a little bit. It might have been because it was played at night or Geelong guarded the space really well. He started to present well in the second half. He was better for the run. Brad Gotch
 
VFL: Round 2 v Port Melbourne
Cooky was pretty reliable. He had nine possessions on the day and had five marks. He was a reasonable target and was pretty clean. He definitely showed enough. Brad Gotch

VFL: Round 3 v North Ballarat 
Lucas played one of his best games for us up forward. He seemed to enjoy a bit of space and had good chemistry with the other forwards. He had 18 possessions and kicked one goal. His composure and ability to use the footy was promising. Something came from each possession, which was pleasing. Brad Gotch

VFL: Round 4 - Bye

VFL: Round 5 - Frankston
Lucas was OK. He played at both ends of the ground, as a key forward and key back. He took seven marks and had 12 possessions. He did enough and continued to build up. Brad Gotch

VFL reserves: Round 6 v Northern Bullants
We had to put Lucas in defence, but he did well. It was good for him to play in another position. He seemed to be quite comfortable playing back. Brad Gotch

VFL: Round 7 v Bendigo Bombers
Cooky took five marks as a hit-up player. He would’ve wanted to do more, but we were still pretty happy with him. He continued to build. Brad Gotch

VFL: Round 8 - Bye

VFL: Round 9 v Williamstown
Cooky kicked one goal, but Lucas Markovic had the better of him. Markovic had been playing senior footy at the Bulldogs, but came back and made Cooky’s time tough. Cooky took a couple of good marks though. Brad Gotch

VFL: Round 10 v Sandringham
I was worried about Cooky on the small ground. I didn’t know if he’d find space, so I did have a bit of a word to him about how to play as a centre half-forward on that ground. He did it beautifully. He was always just that little hit up target from the middle of the ground to about 60 or 70 metres out. He had a good impact on the game - he took five marks, just from little hit up kicks, and his use of the footy was brilliant. A couple of times, he was just a bit too far out, so he passed it off and hit someone inside 50, who could then take a shot at goal. It was really important - he worked really hard. He had five marks, which were really telling when we had the wind. It was a good game from him.Brad Gotch

VFL: Round 11 v Collingwood
Lucas played his best game of the year. He kicked 4.3, took six or seven marks, and that was really exciting. Because it was a televised game, the commentators pumped him up saying: ‘he’s a first round draft pick, he has sticky hands, is a big boy, works hard and is a good kick and can kick goals’. He was good. Brad Gotch

VFL: Round 12 v Coburg Tigers
Cooky really struggled. It had been a pretty big road for him and I thought he would be looking forward to the bye. I think he just had one of those days where it caught up with him a bit.Brad Gotch

VFL: Round 13 - Bye

VFL: Round 14 v Werribee Tigers  
Lucas kicked one goal from a strong mark 25 metres out, but got caught in between a lot, due to the way the game was played. Brad Gotch

VFL reserves: Round 15 v Box Hill Hawks
I thought Lucas was OK, considering it wasn’t a day for him. He was clean and precise when getting the ball in his hands. He set up a couple of goals for us with handballs, and he had a breakout last quarter, when we kicked five goals. He’s so big, and the ball was on the deck a fair bit. But, he provided a contest, and he got a couple of ground balls and handballed them up - I reckon we created two goals out of his work.Brad Gotch

VFL: Round 16 v Frankston
Lucas didn’t get a lot of stats, but he did take five marks, and played his role getting the ball in the middle of the ground and then delivered it up into the forward line.Brad Gotch

VFL: Round 17 - Bye

VFL: Round 18 v Geelong
He took six marks, including two contested, which included one goal. Lucas had eight possessions for the match, but battled on limited supply. Brad Gotch

VFL reserves: Round 19 v Sandringham
Lucas had the freedom to run around, get touches, break the shackles and enjoy his footy. He was part of a 100 point win, and he kicked a goal, so he had a good run.Brad Gotch

VFL reserves: Round 20 v Coburg Tigers
Cooky had a lot of score assists - most of the time he was involved in the play and a scoring opportunity came from it. After half-time, he utilised his space up forward. He took a few nice contested marks. His performance was good.Brad Gotch

VFL reserves: Round 21 v Werribee Tigers
Injured: soreness

VFL reserves: Round 22 v Northern Bullants
Injured: hip

VFL: Qualifying final v Port Melbourne 
Injured: hip
 
VFL: Semi-final v Werribee Tigers
Injured: hip
 
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