Despite only playing for Bradford for three seasons, Danny Peacock, who passed away at the age of 57, was a favorite at Odsal in the late 1990s.
Peacock, who mostly played fullback or in the center, joined Odsal before the 1997 season after playing for the Sydney-based Western Suburbs Magpies for three years (1988–90), the Gold Coast Seagulls for five years (1991–95), and the South Queensland Crushers for one season.
He scored 38 tries overall, including 28 for the Gold Coast, while participating in 128 games in the New South Wales Rugby League.
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.
“The specialist has advised him to retire and the fact that he has three children has been a major part of his decision,” stated Bulls coach Matthew Elliott at the time. Peacock came back to play at the beginning of the 1999 season, but he suffered another injury to the same knee against Castleford on May 3rd. Shortly after, 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 hindered his last two seasons.
