Has he moved on - I know he was Director of Sport at Colfe's at one point?

Out of the two, Brooke Cowden was definately the worst. I can't recall ever seeing him brak a tackle.

I think you may be right on that one Andy.

The only mystery bigger than how Brooke-Cowden ended up at Leeds is how he ever got a place with 'All Blacks.'

The clue is in the name..I would also check which school he attended...

I have never heard confirmation of this, but heard a rumour at the time that we signed the wrong player. The player we were actually after was someone with a name like Zim Zam Brookes. If the rumour was true god knows what happened.
Mark BC was a very average player, but he did want to play for Leeds and never could be accused of lacking in effort or commitment. Something that cannot be said for a lot of the team at that time.

rlhe was good playerrl

He was about as good as david young, RU forwards as good as they are hardly ever make it in RL, He was reserve for Micheal Jones? a bible bashing flanker who refused to play for the all blacks on a sunday, so Brooke Cowden got a couple of games in the world cup & maurice barnpot signed him, poor lad was stuck in RL then, Would not have even entertained leaving RU nowadays.

Leeds were hopeless at scouting back then.

Widnes got a decent union forward in Koloto not long after this.

To be fair to Doug Laughton, he may not have been the worlds greatest hands on coach on the training paddock but he could spot talented players in the other code who had a chance of making it in League.

In the backs didn't Laughton always look at Union inside centre for League potential.

Craig Innes springs to mind here. Not all 'All Blacks' were duff recruits at Leeds.

BC was honest enough. He went to Salford purely because he got man of the match in a game against them. That's the way it seemed, anyway.

He played in the Yorkshire Cup semi final in 1988 against Northern (or Hull?) at HQ. We were losing and him and Deadly Medley came off the bench in the 2nd half. Medly got a 20 minute hat-trick to save the game. IIRC, of course.

Brookie was a smashing fella and one of a very select breed of our players in the 80's.That is,one with a winners medal.
As has been previously mentioned,not the most talented player ever to grace the blue and amber but for commitment,work ethic,and passion he was one of the best.
I still find a great shame he never made it in league.
I do know he'll be absolutely thrilled to be remembered and I'll pass on your regards next time I speak to him.

It seems to me that he was the Simon Worrall of his day.....