Cooks Gardens
Wanganui, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand
Cooks Gardens, Wanganui, New Zealand — opened 1896, 7 rugby league games hosted, home of none — used for representative and touring fixtures (Wanganui or Southern Provinces sides), not a resident rugby league club.
Sourcing caveat: Cooks Gardens is overwhelmingly known for rugby union, athletics (Peter Snell's 1962 world mile record was set here) and cricket. Its Wikipedia article makes no mention of rugby league at all — the venue's rugby league history is documented almost entirely through Rugby League Project's own match records.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1896 |
| Home club | none — used for representative and touring fixtures (Wanganui or Southern Provinces sides), not a resident rugby league club |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 7 |
| Top recorded crowd | 3,000 |
| Capacity | 21,000 today, in its modern role as an athletics stadium; no historical rugby-league-era capacity figure was found |
| Surface | grass historically; today a synthetic 400m athletics track around a grass infield |
| Years used | 1910–1949 |
| Location | Wanganui, Manawatu-Wanganui |
Name history
Rugby league history
Whanganui's historic multi-purpose sports ground, opened in 1896. Rugby league had only a brief, minor presence there between 1910 and 1949: seven representative and touring fixtures involving Wanganui or Southern Provinces sides against Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, a 1912 New South Wales touring team, the 1914 Northern Union (Great Britain) tourists and the 1949 Kangaroos. The largest recorded crowd, 3,000, was reached twice — against the 1912 New South Wales tourists and the 1914 Northern Union tourists.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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