Brian Francis PEAKE

PLAYER: 1972-90

GAMES: 403: East Fremantle 305; Perth 10; Geelong 66; WA 22

PREMIERSHIPS: East Fremantle 1974, 69, 85

HONOURS: Sandover Medal 1977; Tassie Medal 1979; All-Australian captain 1979, 1986; East Fremantle fairest and best 1976-80, 87; East Fremantle captain 1979-81, 86-87; Geelong captain 1982-83; Order of Australia

Few better players have pulled on a boot.  At his prime an extraordinary 402 game career, Brian Peake was rated the No 1 footballer in Australia;  During that period he won five straight Lynn Medals at East Fremantle, the 1977 Sandover Medal, the Tassie Medal at the national championships in 1979 and was named All-Australian captain the same year.  Geelong offered Peake the world but East Fremantle always looked after him.  A natural from the first day in 1971 when he went looking for a kick at Old Easts, where his father Laurie had played 95 games.  The young Peake had all the skills in the world but his great physical strength was one of his best assets.   He could also play in a number of positions. 

In 1981 when he was 27, Geelong finally convinced Peake to go to Victoria.  It was a real Hollywood affair, the WA star ferried into Kardinia Park by helicopter for his first training session.  He played 13 games that year and was made captain in 1982, giving the club great service as ruck-rover or half-forward.  Peake returned to East Fremantle in 1985 and the following year, at the age of 32, played one of the great games in state-of-origin history, lining up at full forward against Victoria and kicking seven goals.

Early in 1990 Peake, who had turned 36, acrimoniously parted company with East Fremantle after the club told him he should retire.  He played 10 games with Perth to take his career tally to 402, joining Barry Cable as the only WA footballers to have played 400 games