John "Bomber" Peard (born 15 January 1945) is an Australian former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer and later coach. An Australian international and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

representative , he played for the

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

, St George and

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

NSWRFL clubs in the 1960s and 1970s. Peard's nickname, 'Bomber', came from his revolutionary towering punt kick, popularly referred to as a bomb, which terrorised opposition players, especially the s and ers they were aimed at. It has now become a common feature of the modern game.

Playing career

Peard played in Eastern Suburbs lower grades before making his 1st grade debut in 1966. That year the Easts failed to win a game. But the club enjoyed more success over the next few years under the coaching of

Jack Gibson Jack Gibson may refer to: * Jack Gibson (rugby league) (1929–2008), Australian player and coach * Jack Stanley Gibson (1909–2005), Irish physician * Jack Gibson (ice hockey, born 1880) (1880–1955), ice hockey player and executive * Jack Gibs ...

. They reached the Semi-finals in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

. After failing to reach the finals for the next three seasons, Peard joined

Graeme Langlands Graeme Frank Langlands, MBE, (2 September 1941 – 20 January 2018), also known by the nickname of "Changa", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. and coached in the 1970s. He retire ...

at St. George in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

and stayed for two seasons. In 1974 Peard, along with coach Jack Gibson, rejoined the Eastern Suburbs club for one of the most successful periods in the club's history. He was a key figure for Easts, winning back to back premierships in 1974 and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, and they were also a winner of mid-week and pre-season cups. In Easts 38–0, 1975 premiership victory over St George, Peard kicked 7 goals. At the end of the 1975 season Peard was selected to represent Australia in that year's Rugby League World Cup, scoring a try in Australia's 25-0 thumping of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

. Peard joined the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

and was named 'player of the year' that season, helping the club to its first ever Grand Final appearance where they faced one of the power teams of the 1970s, Manly-Warringah. His "bomb" came into play early in the Grand Final as Manly winger

Tom Mooney Thomas Joseph Mooney (December 8, 1882 – March 6, 1942) was an American political activist and labor leader, who was convicted with Warren K. Billings of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It quickly became apparent that Mo ...

dropped a bomb over his tryline leading to a try by Eels winger Jim Porter. Unfortunately for Peard and Parramatta, the club's first premiership eluded them as Manly ran out 13-10 winners. Parramatta made their second Grand Final in succession in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, this time facing Peard's former team St. George. It was to be the first drawn Grand Final in premiership history with the scores locked at 9–9 at full time. The replay was a disaster for the Parramatta club as St. George ran riot, winning 22–0. By 1978, injuries had begun to take their toll and Peard retired at the end of the 1979 season.

Post-playing career

Peard moved on to coach Parramatta,

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

, and became the coach of New South Wales for the 1988 State of Origin series, in which NSW lost the series 3-0 despite having home ground advantage for the first time since the Origin concept became a series in 1982. His tenure lasted just one series as he was sacked following the Blues' whitewash series defeat, leaving him the least successful coach in State of Origin history. Peard was later the assistant coach, then officially the first grade 'co-coach' alongside Mark Murray at the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

during 1993–94. Peard also worked for the ABC as a rugby league commentator, most notably alongside Warren Boland and Arthur Beetson. This usually involved being the sideline caller of Saturday afternoon NSWRL games, for which the ABC had the live TV coverage rights for decades until the advent of the

Super League War The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s. Super ...

in 1995. Peard was famous for his humorous rapport with Boland, and in particular former teammate Beetson. Peard is a life member of the Eastern Suburbs club. The John Peard Cup, which commenced in 2004, was named in his honour. Peard suffered a life-threatening stroke in 2002 and he documents his rehabilitation in his autobiography ''Fine Thanks Mate: John 'The Bomber' Peard on Football, Life and Second Chances'', released in April, 2007. As part of the book promotion he appeared on '' The NRL Sunday Footy Show'' on 1 April 2007.

Footnotes

References

* 1945 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league commentators Australian rugby league players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin coaches Parramatta Eels coaches Parramatta Eels players Penrith Panthers coaches People from Far North Queensland Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Queensland St. George Dragons players Sydney Roosters players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub