Dennis Tutty

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Saturday, 29th December, 1945
Current Age
78 years and 91 days

Known Family Links

Cousin
Reg Gasnier

Biography

Balmain lock, the cousin of Reg Gasnier and the brother of international sculler Ian Tutty, won a landmark court case against the NSWRL in the early 1970s. Dennis Tutty was graded by the Tigers as a 17-year-old in 1964 and became the youngest player ever to appear in a grand final when Balmain lost to St George at season’s end. A talented sculler Tutty helped NSW win the King's Cup the following year before retiring from competition to concentrate on his league career. Although he had no previous rep experience he was chosen in the second row in Australia's First Test team that defeated NZ in 1967. This was to be his only Test appearance and, in 1969 (the year the Tigers won the premiership), he chose to sit out the season because of Balmain's refusal to place him on transfer to join Penrith. Although Tutty successfully sought leave to return to the Tigers in 1971 his career was effectively left at a standstill for three years. In November 1971 he was finally released from the club after it was ruled that Balmain's stand was a restraint of trade. Tutty ultimately played for the Panthers but, after moving to Easts in 1975, he was playing in great heart until a broken arm robbed him of a chance to win a premiership. It was ironic that Tutty saw out the final year of his playing career with the Tigers in 1976, but his season as Balmain's first grade coach in 1980 finished turbulently. He has since assisted coach Warren Ryan at Balmain and Wests as a trainer and conditioner.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Additional Notes

His brother Ian Tutty was an International Rower.

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NRL 154 18 -   - 54 79 72 3 51.30% List
NRL Finals 6 - -   - - 3 3 0 50.00% List
Craven Mild Cup 11 - -   - - 3 8 0 27.27% List
Tour Matches Balmain Tigers 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Test Series 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
National Panasonic Cup 4 3 3   - 15 3 1 0 75.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1967 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Balmain NSWRFL 1964 7 - -   - - 6 1 0 85.71% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1965 8 - -   - - 3 5 0 37.50% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1966 16 2 -   - 6 9 7 0 56.25% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1967 17 3 -   - 9 9 6 2 52.94% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1968 15 1 -   - 3 11 4 0 73.33% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1971 17 1 -   - 3 9 8 0 52.94% List
Penrith NSWRFL 1972 5 1 -   - 3 1 4 0 20.00% List
Penrith NSWRFL 1973 21 4 -   - 12 5 16 0 23.81% List
Penrith NSWRFL 1974 20 3 -   - 9 9 11 0 45.00% List
Eastern Suburbs NSWRFL 1975 10 1 -   - 3 8 2 0 80.00% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1976 18 2 -   - 6 9 8 1 50.00% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Balmain 1964-68, 1971, 1976 98 9 -   - 27 56 39 3 57.14% List
Penrith 1972-74 46 8 -   - 24 15 31 0 32.61% List
Eastern Suburbs 1975 10 1 -   - 3 8 2 0 80.00% List
Overall1964-1976 154 18 0   0 54 79 72 3 51.30% List

Your Say

  • The Funambulist
    24/05/2012

    Played as a amateur for early part of his career including his only test appearance in 1967.

  • Steven Lewis
    26/06/2014

    Dennis was our neighbor in Kingswood NSW About 1971, Kev my brother and I trained with Dennis in his back yard. Kev and I were only 5 & 6 year old. We pulled out of footy about 8 years old. It was good to see Dennis continue on in his professional career.

  • Tim Meagher
    26/09/2014

    Every modern player should pay Dennis 1% of their annual salary as he sacrificed his career so that they could both be paid and change clubs.

  • Michael Hurley
    02/10/2019

    I attended the 1966 Grand Final (as a 16 YEAR Old), and watched Dennis Tutty represent Balmain against the mighty St.George. Dennis Tutty was brilliant that day, and it is very sad to reflect on the fact that, his stance regarding restraint of trade (whilst justified), robbed the Rugby League public of witnessing and watching his immeasureable talent blossom.

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Contributions: Alan Katzmann, Shawn Dollin, Greg Fiveash, Andrew Ferguson, Rugby League Tables, Paul Carter, Max Turner, AJ Lucantonio