| Brian Peake OAM | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Brian Francis Peake | ||
| Nickname | Bomber | ||
| Born | (1953-12-05)5 December 1953 (age 71) South Perth, Western Australia | ||
| Original team | Manning JFC | ||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 82 kg (181 lb) | ||
| Position | Utility | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1972–1981, 1985–90 | East Fremantle | 296 (287)[1] | |
| 1981–1984 | Geelong | 66 (49) | |
| 1990 | Perth | 10 (6) | |
| Total | 372 (342) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 1974–1977 | WAFL | 6 (2) | |
| 1978–1982, 1984–87 | Western Australia | 16 (14) | |
| Total | 22 (16) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1990. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Brian Francis PeakeOAM (born 5 December 1953) is a formerAustralian rules footballer who played forEast Fremantle andPerth in theWest Australian Football League (WAFL), andGeelong in theVictorian Football League (VFL). He also playedState of Origin football forWestern Australia from 1978 to 1987, captaining the side in 1979, 1980, 1986 and 1987. Peake was awarded theMedal of the Order of Australia in 1990 and was inducted into theWest Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2004, and into theAustralian Football Hall of Fame in 2013.[2]
The son ofLaurie Peake, who played 89 games for East Fremantle,[3] Peake was a versatile ruck-rover, half-forward flanker or centreman. Peake is ofMāori heritage.[4] He had a long and successful career with East Fremantle where he made his debut in 1972, playing in three premiership winning sides (1974,1979and 1985), winning aSandover Medalin 1977 and captaining theAll-Australian side in 1979and 1986.
Peake played 296 premiership games for the Blue and Whites, and holds the record for six club Best and Fairests; after being controversially sacked with full support of the board by the Sharks three rounds into1990,[5] he moved on toPerth when no other WASFL club was interested in him.[6] In his short career with the Demons, Peake played his 300th WAFL career premiership match before retiring after 372 career premiership matches in elite Australian rules football.
Peake has been named a WAFL Hall of Fame Legend.[7]
After signing withVictorian Football League clubGeelong in 1976,[8] but choosing to remain in Western Australia, Peake finally transferred to Geelong midseason in 1981. Amidst much hype he was flown toKardinia Park by helicopter for training where a crowd of 3000 fans awaited his arrival.[2] In 1982 he was promoted to team captain after just 13 VFL games, although he gave up this position a year later to club game record holderIan Nankervis.[9] Widely regarded as one of the most in-form players in the country at the time, Peake was paid $1,000 a game (high by 1980s standards).[10] After the 1984 season, Peake returned to Western Australia, where he continued to play for a further six seasons.
Peake also played nine night series matches for East Fremantle and 22 interstate matches for Western Australia, along with a night series match for Geelong (these are recognised as senior by the WAFL but not by the VFL/AFL).
If these matches are included, then Peake played a total of 404 senior career games, becoming the second West Australian behindBarry Cable to reach 400 senior career games, and equalling Cable's record for most career senior games played by any elite Australian rules football player born in Western Australia.[11]
The VFL/AFL list Cable and Peake's total as 403, excluding their VFL/AFL night series match (Cable for North Melbourne and Peake for Geelong).
