Australian Football

Recruited from City Cobras in Cairns by Port Adelaide, Ché Cockatoo-Collins played 25 SANFL games before being drafted by Essendon. A mercurial player, capable of dazzling heights of virtuosity inter-mixed with bouts of extraordinarily questionable decision making, Cockatoo-Collins played 85 games and kicked 109 goals for the Bombers between 1994 and 1998, and was a member of the club’s 1994 night series premiership team.

In 1999 Cockatoo-Collins returned home to Port Adelaide, which was now competing in the AFL, and the quality roller coaster continued. He endured two injury affected seasons to begin with, although the side always looked better for his presence, before enjoying arguably his best ever AFL season in 2001 with 41 goals and seventh place in the voting for the club’s best and fairest award. In 2002, however, he was often less than convincing, and was dropped from the side towards the end of the year, although his performance when recalled for the semi final win over his old club, Essendon, was encouraging. Nevertheless, in hindsight it is possible to see that the writing was on the wall, and twelve months later he was delisted, a perhaps unfortunate scapegoat for his club’s continued under-achievement in finals.

The AFL phase of Che Cockatoo-Collins' career involved 85 games and 109 goals with the Bombers and 75 games and 106 goals for the Power.

Author - John Devaney