David Peachey

The Leader

2/18/2025

David Peachey inducted into the Sharks Hall of Fame

Transcript

00:00Number 7, shark number 292, the wonderful David Leachie.

00:31Leachie with a W!

00:54Wow, this doesn't happen to boys from Dubbo every day.

00:57You're the weak boy from Dubbo.

00:59No, it doesn't.

01:00Not much surf out of Dubbo.

01:02No, there's not.

01:03One ball running through there.

01:05But when I come down to the Shire, it was exactly that.

01:09You know, bright lights, city beaches.

01:12And I think what made this place what it is was what I walked into back in 1991, 92 I think it was.

01:20And at that stage I think I missed Alan Cochin and Arthur Beecham was here at that stage.

01:26So it was a nice introduction for me to come to, you know, the Shire, all the way from Dubbo.

01:32You're here surrounded by royalty of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks.

01:36I mean, there's E.T., there's Kevin Miller.

01:38They've just given you the Hall of Fame jacket.

01:40But in the stand are the fans.

01:42Now these fans who watched you play, you played footy like you were still playing backyard footy.

01:48That seemed to be your mentality to the game.

01:51You had the big smile.

01:52You loved what you did.

01:54Oh, exactly.

01:57I was only talking there earlier, you know.

01:59I think when we had our 21th Reserve Grade and 1st Grade all together as a club,

02:03I think that laid the foundations on the back of our 70s and 80s teams.

02:07And when I got down here in 1992, like I said, with Arthur Beecham,

02:11and him actually bringing me here and seeing Andrew and Dan Staines and Mark McGaw as a young kid

02:18coming straight out of high school into the Shire,

02:21running around here at Shark Park with those blokes as the defence.

02:24Arthur would put you over there and say, just be here, just so they could run their plays.

02:28And staying down at Curinari, the Aboriginal hostel, was a real treat for me.

02:33And, you know, when you say people that come along,

02:36the Sharks put up an old bloke by the name of Ronnie Gordon

02:38who used to come down to Curinari and pick me up for training every day.

02:42Preston got here.

02:43He'd make Preston Vegemite sandwiches.

02:46So we had a lot of them blokes that were behind the scenes

02:49in regards to just being diehard Shark supporters and wanting to be a part of this club.

02:53And that was something that, not being in another club, you know, coming straight from Dubbo to here

02:58and not knowing what city life was about, but to be here in the Shire and to be a Shark

03:03and to come here with so many people like Andrew in the Shire wanting to be a Shark

03:08and our 90, 95, 94, 95, 96 teams were exactly that.

03:14A lot of local Shire boys that made this place home.

03:17And particularly for us kids that were out of town to come into town

03:21and they treated it like one of their own as well.

03:24It's so appropriate that we're here at Shark Park for tonight

03:28because I reckon you scored one of the longest range tries in history.

03:32A rugby league field from goal line to goal line is 100 metres.

03:35This guy ran 197 metres in the scoring of a try.

03:39I speed that. If you pick up the ball, if you don't know where you're going,

03:42it doesn't really matter how you got there.

03:44David Peacher, your style was unique.

03:47It was. And it was the game of rugby league.

03:50And, you know, when I look at my mother and her having eight, nine brothers,

03:54that really laid the foundation for us, you know, to get out on the front lawn of Menenz

03:58and get bashed by your uncles.

04:00That's a true testament to saying, if you want to play this game,

04:03you've got to learn the rules from a young age.

04:05And, you know, when you go inside, you've got to blow your nose and skin off your knees

04:09and they just tell you to get back out there and get back into it.

04:12You know, it's something that your uncles will obviously teach you.

04:16And they were there for me right from the very get go.

04:20So, you know, one of my uncles, Marshall, was a Mayesh Shark supporter.

04:23And, you know, when I signed here, he couldn't have been more over the moon.

04:27But when you talk rugby league and, you know, for me to play with these fellas,

04:31my heart was to play with my uncles.

04:34The next highlight was to play with my son, and I did that as well.

04:37So, you know, this game of rugby league has given me so much,

04:39and I feel as though I've given a little bit back to my family,

04:42just in regards to where I've come from and where I've been.

04:45And I don't know how to put that, as David Peachy is all over with the Cronulla Sharks.

04:50It will take a little bit for me to sink in.

04:52But, you know, to leave Dubbo to come down here and just think it was a pipe dream,

04:58you know, 200-odd games with this club has meant the world to me.

05:03And, you know, they're still right up there for me, the Cronulla Sharks.

05:08Nothing more needs to be said, David.

05:10There is no question to follow up on that, mate.

05:12Congratulations.

05:13You are a hall of famer at the Cronulla Sharks and a great rugby leaguer.

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