Billy Peden is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played in Australasia's National Rugby League for the Newcastle Knights (winning the 1997 and 2001 premierships with them) and in the Super League for the London Broncos. Peden's usual position was at Lock but he could also operate at Hooker, Second-row, Prop.

Bill Peden
Personal information
Full nameBill Peden
Born (1970-02-10) 10 February 1970 (age 54)
Cessnock, New South Wales, Australia
Height181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight90 kg (14 st 2 lb)
Playing information
PositionHooker, Lock, Prop, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1994–02 Newcastle Knights 190 42 35 0 238
2003 London Broncos 25 8 0 0 32
Total 215 50 35 0 270
Source: [1]
As of 6 February 2019

Background edit

Peden was born in Cessnock, New South Wales.

Playing career edit

Peden played in the 1997 ARL grand final victory over Manly-Warringah which was the club's first premiership. The game is remembered for Darren Albert scoring under the posts in the final 10 seconds of the game after receiving an inside ball from Andrew Johns.[2]

Peden played at Lock for the Knights in the 2001 NRL grand final and scored two tries in his side's win over the Parramatta Eels.[3] Having won the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights traveled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions, the Bradford Bulls. Peden played at Lock in Newcastle's loss.[4]

In 2011, Peden spoke at the Once-A-Knight Old Boys grand final lunch about the 2001 grand final saying ‘"In 1997 it was special because it was the first one ... and all the emotion involved with that, but 2001 had its own emotions attached to it in terms of being a unified premiership and we were challenged on the fact that 1997 wasn’t. "I was lucky to have played in two great sides. You look at the blokes sitting here today and you have to pinch yourself to think you actually played with those blokes, so I was very blessed".[5]

Post playing edit

Peden is now the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Harlequins RL. He signed a three-year deal to work under Brian McDermott at the London club.[6] Peden made his film début as an extra in the closing scenes of the 1988 Yahoo Serious film Young Einstein. Peden is a former car mechanic.[7] Peden has also had a coaching role with his former club Newcastle Knights.[8] In 2011, the Cessnock club's centenary year, Peden was named on the bench in a Cessnock 'Team of the Century'.[9] Peden later took a job working in underground coal mining around the Lake Macquarie area.[10]

References edit

  1. ^ "Bill Peden – Career Stats & Summary – Rugby League Project". Rugby League Project.
  2. ^ "What happened to the 17 champion players". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. ^ "Peden signs for Broncos". BBC. 23 December 2002. Retrieved 23 August 2007.
  4. ^ "OFFICIAL DEBUT NUMBERS". Newcastle Knights. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Newcastle Knights recall 2001 grand final glory". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  6. ^ "Peden back in London as a coach". BBC. 20 July 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2007.
  7. ^ "Peden keeps motoring on". BBC. 25 June 2003. Retrieved 23 August 2007.
  8. ^ "Peden quits Broncos". BBC. 8 January 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2007.
  9. ^ Leeson, John (30 May 2011). "Ton of talent from Cessnock club honoured". The Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  10. ^ "Where are they now: Bill Peden". www.newcastleknights.com.au.

External links edit