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

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer and later coach. An Australian international and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

representative , he played for the Eastern Suburbs,

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

and

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

NSWRFL The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.It was registered on 21 ...

clubs in the 1960s and 1970s. Peard's nickname, 'Bomber', came from his revolutionary towering punt kick, popularly referred to as a

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

, 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 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. 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. They reached the Semi-finals in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

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

Graeme Langlands Graeme Frank Langlands, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE, (2 September 1941 – 20 January 2018), also known by the nickname of "Changa", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played from the 19 ...

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

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 Solar time, ...

and stayed for two seasons. In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

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 The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by senior men's national teams who each represent member nations of the International Rugby League who run and administer the tournament. The tournament has be ...

, scoring a try in Australia's 25-0 thumping of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 ...

in Leeds. 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 (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – 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 18 – Full diplomatic ...

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 M ...

dropped a bomb over his tryline leading to a try by Eels winger

Jim Porter Jim Porter (born 1949) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s. An Australia national representative er, he played his club football in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership with the Eastern Su ...

. 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 – 1977 Moscow bombings, 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 (no ...

, 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 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, 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 Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

, 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 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

. 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 Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

during 1993–94. Peard also worked for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

as a rugby league commentator, most notably alongside

Warren Boland Warren James Boland (born 11 February 1955, in Sydney) is a former science teacher and professional footballer (rugby league) with the Western Suburbs Magpies & Balmain Tigers. He presented weekend radio shows called "Weekends with Warren" on ...

and

Arthur Beetson Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson Medal of the Order of Australia, OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011

. 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. Sup ...

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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peard, John 1945 births Living people People from Atherton, Queensland 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 Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Queensland St. George Dragons players Sydney Roosters players New South Wales rugby league team players City New South Wales rugby league team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen