Peacock would trade a Man of Steel award for Grand Final joy

The inspiring prop buried his father Darryl on Monday after he had died recently following a long battle with lung cancer

Of course, such sad events always put rugby – whether at grass-roots level or when challenging for Super League titles – into perspective but Peacock has dedicated his game to his dad ever since the illness was diagnosed two years ago.

Ahead of tonight’s play-off semi-final at Wigan Warriors, he admitted: “It has been a tough couple of weeks.

“It’s been tough for longer than that as well but these last two have probably been harder than most.

“I’ve got a great support network around me though including my family but also people involved in rugby both at Stanningley and here at Leeds.

“I can’t thank these people enough for being able to help and it’s made me realise what nice people are involved in the game.

“It has been incredibly difficult. I don’t think it’s something you understand until you go through it yourself. You can only guess but it has been tough.”

It is fitting that in such times the 35-year-old has produced what he believes to be the finest football of his distinguished career.

The formidable forward is one of three nominees for the coveted Man of Steel on Monday night, an award he last won 10 years ago during Bradford Bulls’ treble-winning 2003 campaign.

It is a mark of the man that, in such a testing position, a decade on he is still delivering such powerful and dominant performances, something Wigan, Warrington Wolves, Huddersfield Giants and, indeed, every opponent will attest to this year.

“This is the best I’ve played consistently,” said Peacock. “I can’t really remember having too many poor games this year.

“I’m pretty old now and if you see me during the week you’d wonder how old.

“But I do what I do on the weekend. I’ve had quite a few periods within my career where I’ve played well but not for so consistently long.

“I’ve not surprised myself. I’ve been pleased more than anything to keep a high performance level every week and I’ve been pleased with the big games we’ve had.

“I think I’ve played well in those and that’s something I’ve always thought you should do as a senior player. I’ve been pleased more than anything with that.”

Receiving the prestigious Man of Steel for a second time – only the legendary Ellery Hanley, Andy Farrell and Paul Sculthorpe have done that before – would only add to Peacock’s gravitas but, unsurprisingly, he is not really contemplating such a moment.

“It’d be a big thing and I’d be over the moon as it’s a special, special award but I’d rather win a Grand Final, to be honest,” he offered, having already made a record 10 appearances in Super League’s showpiece.

“It’s a team sport and I want to win the Grand Final.

“If I didn’t win Man of Steel and won that I’d be more happy than if it was the other way.”

To do that, Leeds must overcome a Wigan side who, for all their inconsistencies in recent weeks, really flexed their muscles by winning at league leaders Huddersfield Giants in their opening play-off.

Shaun Wane’s side have their eyes on a double having already lifted the Challenge Cup and they also have revenge in mind having lost to Leeds at the DW Stadium at this stage last season.

The West Yorkshire club have recent success there, though, prospering 20-6 in the final regular round to usurp Wigan from third spot.

“We played well that night and I think it will be that type of game again, that high intensity,” said Peacock, who was supreme just 24 hours before his father passed away.

“Wigan took a lot of breaking down. We’re going there with a lot of respect for them.

“Even though we won and it might have looked convincing in the end, I learned a hell of a lot of respect for that Wigan team after that game.

“All our players did.”

But Peacock, who has helped Leeds to five Grand Final triumphs in the last six years alone after also winning three with Bradford, admits the 40-20 play-off loss at Warrington almost a fortnight ago was hugely disappointing.

At the time he Tweeted: “If I tweet my inner feelings about our team performance it will be littered with profanity.”

Is that as angry as he has ever been after a loss?

“I was pretty annoyed,” he said.

“You want to get there and play well in games... everyone as a team. Sometimes anger is an emotion that comes out of a loss like that.

“It’s just about channelling it in the right way.”

That loss, against the side they defeated at Old Trafford last year, came after what many had described as Leeds’s best performance of the year at Wigan.

It was disappointing there had been such a swing as Peacock explained: “As a player you strive for consistency.

“You don’t want to be a rollercoaster. You want to be a flat keel of playing well all the time and that wasn’t it. But that’s rugby. You can’t be on every day. We weren’t on that one.”

It meant they did not go directly to this weekend’s semi-finals.

Instead, they had to take a circuitous route and play St Helens in another rugged examination last week which was only decided by Danny McGuire’s late drop-goal.

You sense, though, that with not only Peacock in such imperious form, Leeds will reach their preferred destination yet again.