Peacock: Naylor looked after me

A FASCINATING insight into the qualities of Scott Naylor the player is provided by the legendary and recently-retired former Bradford, Leeds and Great Britain star Jamie Peacock.

Naylor, League One’s 2015 coach of the year and currently preparing his young Oldham side for their first crack at Championship rugby, was a senior member of the brilliant Bradford side when a young Peacock was starting out on a career that was to provide him with every honour in rugby league.

Describing the Roughyeds boss as one of his five early mentors, Peacock said: “Scott was incredibly underrated. He was a nightmare for opponents but he looked after me, even socially, and we had some good times together.

“In my early days I had a gang of five who invested a great deal of time on and off the field to guide me in the right direction, whether they knew it or not. They provided me with the perfect apprenticeship.”

Writing in his book, “Jamie Peacock, No White Flag”, the former superstar and current TV pundit, describes how Naylor wrapped up Wigan’s Australian Test centre Steve Renouf in a Super League Grand Final against the Bulls.

“Scott was an expert at that. He unsettled some of the game’s greats. He was horrible to them, getting in their ear as well as giving them a physical working over which, more often than not, put them off their natural game. They were suddenly too busy being wary of him.

“A genuine, salt-of-the-earth unassuming type, he knew what his abilities were and he always played to the best of them. He loved to moan, but that was his way of getting through training.

“You need players like that in any successful team; guys who are prepared to be great defenders. Scott was a great club man and a good, honest bloke who was true to people and loyal.”