Dennis Tutty

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Dennis Tutty
Personal information
Full name Dennis Tutty
Relatives Reg Gasnier (cousin)[1]
Club information
Position(s) Lock
Current club Retired
Senior clubs*
Years Club Apps (points)
1964–1971
1972–1974
1975
1976		 Balmain Tigers
Penrith Panthers
Eastern Suburbs
Balmain Tigers		 83 (21)
46 (24)
10 (3)
21 (6)
Representative teams
1967 Australia 1 (0)
Professional clubs coached
1980 Balmain Tigers

* Professional club appearances and points
counted for domestic first grade only.

Dennis Tutty is an Australian former professional rugby league player and coach in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition who also represented for Australia. He was also a champion rower.[1] In the 1970s, Tutty won a landmark court case which removed trade restraints on rugby league players. Tutty primarily played at lock.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Tutty was graded to Balmain in 1964 at the age of seventeen. He became the youngest player to ever appear in a grand final when Balmain met St. George at the end of that season.

In 1967, Tutty was selected to play in his only Test appearance, against New Zealand in the first Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

In March, 1968, citing unhappiness with the terms of his contract, Tutty applied to the Tigers for a clearance to play with another club. At the time, clubs were able to prevent any professional player who had played in one of its teams from playing with any other club, even if the player no longer played for the retaining club. The request was refused and Tutty then lodged an appeal with the New South Wales Rugby League. In May, he withdrew the appeal before it was heard and agreed to play for Balmain for the 1968 season for an increased remuneration. At the end of the 1968 season, Tutty applied once more to be placed on the transfer list but he was again refused and his name was placed on the 'retain' list. Tutty did not appeal the second refusal but sat out the 1969 season, not playing for any team.

Tutty commenced legal action in May, 1969. He fought for over two years for the right for players to transfer to another club. The New South Wales Equity Court granted Tutty's application to have the League's transfer system declared invalid, deeming it an 'unreasonable restraint of trade'. The League appealed to the High Court of Australia but on 13 December 1971, the High Court's judgement upheld the Equity Court's decision. The implications of Tutty's successful legal action were quickly felt throughout the game. In the first two months, South Sydney lost three internationals, John O'Neill, Ray Branighan and Ron Coote.

After two years sitting out of the game, and while still waiting for a legal decision, Tutty returned to play for Balmain during 1971. He played seventeen games but did not receive any remuneration from the club. Tutty was free to play for the Penrith Panthers in 1972 and he remained with the club for three seasons.

In 1975, Tutty moved to Eastern Suburbs. A broken arm during the season prevented him from participating in Easts 38–0 win over St. George in the grand final.

Tutty spent his final year in first-grade, 1976, back at Balmain.

[edit] Coaching career

Tutty spent one season as a first-grade coach, with Balmain in 1980. The season was not successful for the team or for Tutty, winning only seven games from twenty-two. He stood down at the end of the 1980 season and was succeeded by Frank Stanton.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b James Hooper. "All should hail King Tutty", The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 2008-04-13. Retrieved on 2008-06-01. 

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Ron Willey
1977–1979		 Coach
Balmain Tigers
1980		 Succeeded by
Frank Stanton
1981–1986