Dennis Hartley

[itsallcastome]

Hello everyone whose memory goes back to the 1960s and beyond.

 

Dennis Hartley, famous Doncaster, Hunslet, Castleford and GB player turns 80 in April.

 

He is having a little do and I am hoping to be able to give him some memories of how he is remembered by the public. As a Cas fan he is one of my heroes but I know to other club fans he might be a devil. He is a real gent off the field though and his health isn't the best.

 

Would you please post any memories you have of him, good or bad, funny or serious and I will include them. Please rise above out and out insults.

 

One of mine is the try he scored for GB against Australia when we won the series in 1970. I had never seen him run so fast or so far in my life, it was about 30 yards I think, outpacing Australians, and if I'm not losing it I seem to remember he also put a kick in that he collected on the way to the line.

 

Many thanks for anyone taking the time.

[super major]

I well remember Dennis on TV on Saturday afternoons in the late 60's. Part of a great Cas team. Real Classy Cas but no one messed with Dennis.

Nothing personal but I do recall Dick Gemmell telling me about how he once came in late and stiff armed Dennis. He said Dennis just looked up to see who it was and never said owt. Dicks team mates told him to keep out of Dennis' way,which he did.

His next memory was waking up in hospital with a broken nose and concussion. He reckoned he never saw him

Men were men then!

[Stan Doffarf]

Dennis is my niece's father in law, despite which I've never met him. I remember him very well as a player though, a real open side prop in the days of competitive (very) scrums.

 

One memory I have is of the Bradford v Hunslet Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley in 1965. Hunslet were runners up at Wembley a few months earlier and had a mighty pack. They battered the Bradford line for what felt like the entire first half, but were in the main repelled by some heroic defence. Northern had a young full back called Jack Scattergood, in the team because of an injury to regular FB Mike Brown. On one occasion Dennis ran full tilt at him only a couple of feet from the line, young Jack somehow stopped him dead. 

 

Dennis did the business for Hunslet, Doncaster, Cas and Great Britain for many years in the toughest of positions, his legendary status is well deserved. I gather he is not well these days, and I hope his 80th 'do' is a great success.

[Ullman]

I remember seeing him play for Cas against Salford at Wembley in '69. Even as a kid I was aware of his reputation as a hard man.

 

There are quite a few stories about him on the Era of the Biff website.

[Taurus]

My first recollections of Rugby League​ date back to the "classy Cas" era of the late 1960's. As a small child aged six or seven those are the times when your heroes first form, and Cas became my "favourite other team." But it was not the mercurial Hardisty and Hepworth half back combination that I remember best, but the big tough looking man in the number 8 shirt.

 

​Although big and strong Dennis appeared almost superhuman to my young eyes and it would often take three or four defenders to take him down. As I got older I started to appreciate the skill as well as the toughness of Rugby League and Dennis was not short of skill by any means. He would drive the ball hard into the line and as the defenders struggled to hold him he would release the ball (usually to Hardisty as I recall) and many Cas tries were scored or set up in this way. But it was another skill which stands out to me even now after all these years. I can only describe this as I saw it and it was as follows:

 

​Hartley would run at the defence and make half a break. Just as he was about to be tackled, he would slow down for a pace or two and simultaneously lift his arms as if to give up to the tackle. The defenders would subconsciously relax, but then in another step or two he would speed up, continue his run and shrug the tacklers away. I saw him do this on several occasions and no other player I have seen since has been able to replicate it, certainly not to the same degree.

 

Players like Hartley whose size, strength and toughness are matched by great skills are why I fell in love with Rugby League all those years ago and still remain a fan now. Thanks for the memories big Dennis, hope you have a good 80th

[LionelHurst]

As a boy I used to go to bed and memorize the Lions pack that beat the Aussies so -

Hartley Fisher Watson

Laughton Thompson

Reilly

[ivans82]

watched him in a cup match against the town one sunday , pitch had been covered with straw all week to keep the frost at bay , as a young lad lots of us watched the match in the straw , i was behind the sticks at the town end , i saw dennis plough through the town defence to score and thought i d never seen anyone as big !...he surely was a gent , a mate of mine at whitehaven said the crowd were leaving the rec after the match in the days when players and speccies went out the same gate as that was where the changing rooms were....my friend felt a big hand on his shoulder , he turned round to see dennis towering above him and he said "excuse me can i get passed ?"

[Viking Warrior]

big dennis was more than just a big man he was a superb ball playing prop who helped lay the platform for hardisty and hepworth to create the chances for cas in the 60's

[itsallcastome]

Thanks to all who contributed. All memories were put into a booklet and given to Dennis on Saturday. He had an enjoyable day with a good turnout of ex players including Hunslet ex players. I got some great stories from other sources as well so have put some of my favourites below. I hope you like them.

 

forum member

I remember him packing down against Leeds and leaving one of the Eyre brothers on the floor and at the next scrum the other one was out for the count. All the pre match press had been bigging up the Eyres as real hard men but Denis showed he was not to be messed with.

(PS Kenny Eyre was at Dennis' party so no hard feelings)

 

Former player Keith Hepworth I had just come back from the 1970 Great Britain tour of Australia with Dennis. The Castleford team was breaking up and I soon ended up playing for Leeds. One of the early games was away at Castleford. During the match I got the ball and was heading under the sticks when from out of nowhere a massive fist hit me in the middle of the forehead. I was growing a  unicorn horn from my head before I hit the ground. After the match my eyes were black and swelling as well so I went up to Dennis and said we had been team-mates for the last 3 months, why had he done that. He put his great hand on my shoulder and said “I f***** hate Leeds”. Then as I went away he gave me another gentle swipe across my face.

Harry Jepson

In the 1969 Championship Final between Leeds and Castleford, an old friend from the Hunslet team, Bill Ramsey was playing for Leeds. At the first scrum Dennis punched him and Ramsey shot up asking why did he do that, he thought they were friends. Dennis said there are no mates when Cas play Leeds.