John Leslie Peck (7 August 1937 – 2 February 1993) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er, who played in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL).

Football

Hawthorn

John Peck, the brother of Graham Peck, played for

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

from 1954 to 1966. He was the first

player to win the leading VFL goalkicking award. Peck won the award in three successive years in 1963–65. He Kicked 78 goals in 1963, 66 goals in 1964 and 58 goals in 1965. In 1960 Peck kicked the winning goal in a match against Collingwood at Victoria Park, It was Hawthorn's first win after 35 years at that venue. Peck was the last player to win the

Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, one of the most ...

from the wooden spoon winning side until

Brendan Fevola Brendan Fevola (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played with the Carlton and Brisbane Lions football clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Fevola is regarded as one of the most effective ...

from won it in 2006. He played in the 1961 and 1963

Grand Finals Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

Brian Sawley

In the third quarter of the interstate match between Victoria and South Australia in Adelaide on 7 July 1963, playing in the ruck, Peck knocked Norwood's Brian Sawley unconscious. A South Australian Tribunal found Peck guilty of striking, but left the penalty to be determined by the VFL — displaying controversial leniency, the VFL only suspended Peck for two weeks.

Port Melbourne

He played for Port Melbourne in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

in 1967 and 1968.
/ref> Most notably during his time at Port Melbourne, Peck was reported for abusing and disputing the decisions of field umpire David Jackson in the second quarter of the controversial

1967 VFA Grand Final The 1967 VFA Division 1 Grand Final was an Australian rules football match played between the Dandenong Redlegs and the Port Melbourne Borough. The match was held on Sunday 24 September 1967 at the Punt Road Oval in Jolimont, Melbourne, to deci ...

; the incident prompted captain-coach Brian Buckley to lead the Port Melbourne team off the ground (a forfeiture was averted when club officials instructed the players to return to the field), and Peck was suspended for six matches for the incident.

Honours and achievements

Hawthorn * VFL premiership player:

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

* 2× Minor premiership:

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

Individual * 3×

: 1963, 1964, 1965 * 8× Hawthorn leading goalkicker: 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 * Hawthorn captain: 1965 *

Hall of Fame *

life member

Death

Peck died suddenly on 2 February 1993 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at the age of 55. His death was received with great sadness within the footy community, and he was buried at the Euroa Public Cemetery.

Footnotes

References

* Ross, J. (ed), ''100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported'', Viking, (Ringwood), 1996.

External links

* *
Boyles Football Photos: John Peck
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club Premiership players Coleman Medal winners Port Melbourne Football Club players 1937 births 1993 deaths One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Burials in Victoria (Australia) {{AFL-bio-1930s-stub