DANNY PEACOCK (March 4, 1968 – July 24, 2025)
DANNY PEACOCK, who has died at the age of 57, was an Odsal favourite in the late 1990s, even though he only spent three seasons with Bradford.
Peacock, who played primarily at fullback or in the centre, arrived at Odsal prior to the 1997 season after having spent three years with Western Suburbs Magpies (1988-90) in Sydney, five years with the then Gold Coast Seagulls (1991-95) and one season with the then South Queensland Crushers.
In total he played 128 games in what was then the New South Wales Rugby League and scored 38 tries, including 28 for the Gold Coast.
Although always highly regarded individually, his choice of clubs did him no favours, as he created an unfortunate record of earning five wooden spoons with three different clubs while playing in the Australian competition.
However, his fortunes would change dramatically on arriving in England.
He made his Bulls debut on 9th February 1997 in a 62-10 fourth round Challenge Cup victory against Hunslet, scoring two tries.
He then made his Super League debut against Warrington at Odsal in Round 1, scoring a try as the Bulls hammered their opponents 58-20 in front of a crowd of 15,017 as he formed a centre partnership with fellow Australian Graeme Bradley, earning the soubriquet ‘Birdman’.
That first season was a year to remember for Peacock, who scored a try at Wembley as the Bulls went down 32-22 to St Helens in the Challenge Cup Final on 3rd May.
Peacock scored a hat-trick in a 68-0 win over Paris Saint Germain on 22nd August in front of 17,128 at Odsal on the night when the Bulls were presented with the Super League trophy.
And he was named in that season’s Super League Dream Team.
His season ground to a halt in 1998 after nine matches, when he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury against London Broncos.
He returned to action at the start of the 1999 season, but he suffered another injury to the same knee against Castleford on 3rd May and shortly afterwards he accepted medical advice and announced his retirement from the game.
Peacock had made 52 appearances for the club, scoring 22 tries in total, but he was forced to retire at the age of 31 in 1999 due to a bad knee injury that hampered his last two seasons at the club.
“The specialist has advised him to retire and the fact that he has three children has been a major part of his decision,” said the Bulls’ then coach Matthew Elliott.