James Darryl Peacock MBE, (born 14 December 1977) is a motivational speaker, leadership mentor and former English professional

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 112 ...

footballer. He played for Leeds Rhinos and the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

, and captained both

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

and

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 ...

at international level. After retiring at the end of the 2015 season he became director of rugby at the

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

, but resumed his playing career towards the end of the 2016 season. His position of choice was , although he played much of his early career as a . He is the most successful player in Super League history, having won a total of 9 Super League championships, 4

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involve ...

winners medals, 4 World Club Challenge winners medals, twice named the Best Forward in the World, named in the

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists an ...

on 11 occasions, won the Man of Steel award in 2003 and in 2021 awarded the MBE.

Background

Born in

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 popul ...

, Peacock is a product of

' junior programme, having played as a junior for Stanningley RLFC. On his way to becoming a first team regular for Bradford, Jamie spent a month on loan at

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

making four appearances and scoring one try. He also enjoyed a spell at

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

in Australia as he learned his rugby trade.

Professional playing career

Bradford

He made his Super League début in 1999 for Bradford, making two starts and 16 substitute appearances for the club, scoring six tries. However, it was the following year that he really cemented his place in the side, helping Bradford to Rugby League

success over Leeds at Murrayfield. During his time with Bradford he won every honour available, with Grand Final, Challenge Cup and World Club Challenge honours to his credit with Peacock recognised as being one of the key ingredients of this success. He gained a reputation in the world rugby, winning such accolades as Man of Steel, Players' Player of the Year and Rugby League Writers' Player of the Year. Jamie Peacock

Peacock earned himself a place in

John Kear John Kear (born 25 November 1954) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Widnes Vikings in the Betfred Championship and the Wales national rugby league team. He also works as a pundit for BBC Sport and is a f ...

's England side for the 2000 World Cup. He made four appearances in the World Cup that year, scoring an impressive six tries which including a hat trick against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

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 ...

. Peacock played for the

as a in their 2001 Super League Grand Final victory against the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

. Peacock played for England in 2001 against Wales. Also in 2001, he capped the season by making his Great Britain début against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

scoring a try after just 86 seconds of his début in the first test victory at

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

. He then become a permanent presence in the Great Britain squad making 14 appearances, all but three of which have been in the starting line up. Peacock won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for Great Britain while at Bradford Bulls in 2001 against Australia (2 matches), and Australia (sub), in 2002 against Australia, New Zealand, and New Zealand (sub) (2 matches), in 2003 against Australia (3 matches), in 2004 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand, in 2005 against Australia (2 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches). As Super League VI champions, the Bulls played against 2001 NRL Premiers, the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in the 2002 World Club Challenge. Peacock played as a in Bradford's victory. He made 30 appearances as Bradford again returned to

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

for the 2002 Super League Grand Final only to lose out to a Sean Long drop goal. However, Bradford were unstoppable as they captured the Challenge Cup, League Leaders and Grand Final trophies ahead of Leeds and Wigan respectively and Peacock was named Players Player of the Year, Rugby League Writers Player of the Year and Man of Steel. Peacock played for the

as a in their 2003 Super League Grand Final victory against the

. Having won

Super League VIII Tetley's Super League VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 109th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League. The season culminat ...

, Bradford played against 2003 NRL Premiers, the

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. Penrith ...

in the

2004 World Club Challenge The 2004 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 13 February 2004, at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, England. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and the Penrith Panthers. Background Bradford Bulls Penrith Panthers Match ...

. Peacock captained the Bulls as a in their 22–4 victory. Bradford then battled all the way with Leeds to the

2004 Super League Grand Final The 2004 Super League Grand Final was the 7th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League IX. It was held on Saturday 16 October 2004, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was played between Leeds Rhinos, who fi ...

where Leeds finally got the advantage over their old nemesis. Peacock was then selected in the Great Britain team to compete in the end of season 2004 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament. In the final against

he played as a in the Lions' 44–4 loss. Peacock was honoured with the captaincy at Bradford Bulls in his final year at Odsal and played for the Bulls as a in their

2005 Super League Grand Final 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

victory against Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.

Leeds

Peacock was made captain of Great Britain for the 2005 and 2006 Gillette Tri-Nations tournaments due to injuries to

Paul Sculthorpe Paul Sculthorpe MBE (born 22 September 1977) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or forward in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for England and Great Britain at international level, as well as representing L ...

. Leeds born Peacock joined the club he supported as a boy in 2006 from local rivals Bradford. He made his Leeds début against

on the opening day of the season. Peacock played for Great Britain while at Leeds in 2006 against New Zealand (3 matches), and Australia (2 matches), in 2007 against New Zealand (3 matches). He played in the 2008 Super League Grand Final victory over St. Helens. and was also part of the 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012

Super League Grand Final The Super League Grand Final is the championship-deciding game of rugby league's Super League competition. It is played between two teams who have qualified via the Super League Play-Off series. The winning team receives the Super League Trop ...

squads and team that won the World Club Challenge against

Manly Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. He played for England in 2008 against France. On 16 June 2008, Peacock was announced as the

captain for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

in Australia. In

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...

's first match against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

he played as a in England's victory. He played against Papua New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand (2 matches), in 2009 against France (2 matches), New Zealand and Australia. Peacock played a starring role in Leeds' 33-6 Grand Final victory over then reigning champions' St Helens. He played a full 80 minutes to win his 4th Super League champions ring. He was named in the

for both the 2008's

Super League XIII Engage Super League XIII was the official name, due to sponsorship, for the 2008 Super League season by Engage Mutual. Twelve teams competed for the Minor Premiership over 27 rounds (including Millennium Magic) after which, the top 6 finishing t ...

& 2009's Super League XIV season. He played in the

2009 Super League Grand Final The 2009 Super League Grand Final was the 12th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XIV season. It was held on Saturday 10 October 2009, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by defend ...

victory over St. Helens at

. He was selected to play for England against France in the one-off test in 2010. Peacock signed a new one-year deal at

in July 2011. Later that year he played as a for Leeds in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. He played in the 2011 Super League Grand Final victory over St. Helens at

. Peacock was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to rugby league. On 26 June 2012, Peacock announced his retirement from international rugby league. He played in the

2012 Challenge Cup Final The 2012 Challenge Cup Final was the 111th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2012 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 25 August 2012, kick off 14:30. The final was contested by Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves ...

defeat by the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

. He played in the

2012 Super League Grand Final The 2012 Super League Grand Final was the 15th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XVII season. The match was held on Saturday 6 October 2012, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by ...

victory over the

. He enjoyed a resurgence the following season, and was once again named in the Super League Dream Team in 2013, 2014 & 2015. Peacock played in the 2014 Challenge Cup Final victory over the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

. He played in the 2015 Challenge Cup Final victory over

. Peacock announced that he would retire from the sport upon the conclusion of the 2015 season and take up the role of football manager at

. He played in the 2015 Super League Grand Final victory over the

Hull Kingston Rovers

Peacock joined Hull KR as football manager for the 2016 Super League season. At the end of the regular season Hull KR finished 11th in the league and were forced to play in the 2016 Qualifiers. After four of the eight games with the team lying fourth in the qualifying table (only the top three are guaranteed Super League status for 2017, fourth play fifth for the last Super League spot) and with the squad depleted by injuries Peacock announced he was coming out of retirement to play in the last games of the season. He continued with his regular duties alongside playing.

Honours

Club

;Bradford *

(3):

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

(2):

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

* World Club Challenge (2):

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

League Leaders' Shield The League Leaders' Shield is a shield awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football. Currently, and for most of Super League's history, the championship is decided on the basis of a play-off se ...

(3):

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

;Leeds *

(6):

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

(2):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* World Club Challenge (2):

(2):

Individual

Man of Steel Award A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

Orders and special awards

(MBE): 2012

Career stats

Post-rugby career

Motivational speaking

Jamie has transferred his experience captaining both

and

toward becoming a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

, whilst also focussing on leadership mentoring and promoting

wellbeing Well-being, or wellbeing, also known as wellness, prudential value or quality of life, refers to what is intrinsically valuable relative ''to'' someone. So the well-being of a person is what is ultimately good ''for'' this person, what is in th ...

for an increasing number of blue chip businesses, educational organisations and SME’s. In addition to

keynote A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

speeches for business, he has developed the hugely successfu
‘Building Champions’ mentoring programme
to support personal development, leadership learning and culture change within organisations. Since its inception in 2016 over 1000 delegates have completed the 50 day program. He has also researched, designed and created th
‘Be A Champion’ 30-day wellbeing programme
that is proven to create positive change through an improved mindset, good sleep, healthy eating and increased physical activity. The Be A Champion program’s simple and effective ability to build robust wellbeing habits means that tens of thousands of programs have been completed.

Author

Jamie Peacock released his autobiography ‘No White Flag’ in 2008, co-written with Phil Caplan. He has also written an accompanying book to his ‘Be A Champion’ wellbeing programme.

Media

Since retiring from the field, Jamie Peacock continues to contribute to the rugby league world through regular media appearances where he provides his expert insight and opinion.

References

External links

Jamie Peacock's Official Website
*(archived by web.archive.org
Leeds Rhinos profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
2001 Ashes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peacock, Jamie 1977 births Living people Bradford Bulls captains Bradford Bulls players England national rugby league team captains England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Featherstone Rovers players Great Britain national rugby league team captains Great Britain national rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers players Leeds Rhinos captains Leeds Rhinos players Members of the Order of the British Empire Rugby league players from Bramley Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows University of Wollongong alumni Yorkshire rugby league team players