Danny Peacock on his way to a try for Bradford in the 1997 Challenge Cup final at Wembley. Peacock leaves Steve Prescott (St Helens) in his wake.
Danny Peacock was a dynamic ball runner whose career nearly came to a premature end after he dislocated his hip playing for Gold Coast Seagulls against the Knights in Newcastle in 1991. Instead Peacock went on to play another seven years at the top level, finishing his career with 128 NSWRL/ARL games and 52 games in the British Super League, including a Challenge Cup Final appearance at Wembley Stadium with Bradford Bulls.
He came ever so close to playing for Queensland at State of Origin level, particularly in 1992 when he had a magnificent season for the Gold Coast, including a match against the touring Great Britain side.
Peacock was born at Augathella in Western Queensland and played his first football there but attended high school in Charleville. In 1987 he represented Queensland under-19s, a side which included future Origin players, Andrew Gee and Craig Teevan and was coached by former Test halfback, Dennis Ward.
The following year Peacock was signed by fellow Queenslander, Laurie Freier to play for Western Suburbs Magpies in Sydney, where Peacock spent three seasons before joining Gold Coast Seagulls who were based at Tweed Heads. Although the club struggled, Peacock was one of their best players in his five seasons there, scoring a club record 14 tries in 1995.
He signed with South Queensland Crushers in 1996, but was under contact to Super League, so he moved to England in 1997 when the Crushers were part of the ARL. He quickly became a fan-favourite playing in the centres for Bradford Bulls, who were coached by fellow Queenslander, Matt Elliott and included fellow Aussies Graeme Bradley and Jeff Wittenberg on the playing roster.
Bradford won the English Championship in 1997 with rapturous fans acknowledging their heroes at the famous Odsal Stadium when the trophy was presented after the final game of the year against Paris St Germaine. Peacock, who scored three tries in the big win, was in seventh heaven because in all his time in senior football in Australia he had not been part of a club which had won a major trophy.
Earlier in the year Peacock had played for Bradford in the final of the (knockout) Challenge Cup competition at Wembley Stadium, scoring a spectacular try for the West Yorkshire club in their 32-22 loss to Merseyside rivals, St Helens in front of a crowd of 78,022. All-up he played 32 games in 1997 (including Super League World Club Challenge games against Australian clubs) scoring 16 tries. In 1998 a knee injury restricted him to nine games.
That injury brought a premature end to this career after the 1998 season. He was given an emotional farewell at Bradford as he was driven around Odsal Stadium waving farewell to the fans who adored him. During his time at Bradford – where he was affectionately known as ‘Bird Man’ – Peacock had helped elevate the club to a position where they were regarded as one of the best supported rugby clubs of either code in the UK.
Toowoomba Brothers’ president, John Butler told Jason Gibbs from News Ltd that he vividly recalled Peacock’s debut for Valleys in the Toowoomba Rugby League in 1987, when Butler was a ballboy.
“He played all three games for Valleys that day (under-18s, reserve grade and first grade) and scored six tries – two in each game,” Butler said. “I can still see them all in my head, plain as day. All of them were absolutely amazing tries, some of the best I’ve ever seen.”
Danny Peacock died in Toowoomba on July 24, aged 57. At Bradford’s away game against Widnes two days later, fans paid tribute to Peacock and former Great Britain forward, Ray French with a minutes applause before kick-off. French, who also played for England in rugby union, and was BBC Television’s voice of rugby league for many years, died on July 26, aged 85. French played for St Helens and Widnes.
<pics>1 Danny Peacock on his way to a try for Bradford in the 1998 Challenge Cup final at Wembley. Peacock leaves Steve Prescott (St Helens) in his wake 2 Danny Peacock (second from left backrow) in the 1993 Gold Coast Seagulls’ side 3 Danny Peacock (right) with fellow South Queensland players (from left) Mark Protheroe and Jason Hudson at the Crushers’ home base at Corbett Park, Grange.
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