Bramley Legends - Dennis Warrior - Bramley Buffaloes

Dennis Warrior joined Bramley in a transfer exchange with Leeds that also brought Joseph “Joe” Hulme to the Barley Mow, with Bob Bartlett and Dennis Murphy going to Headingley in January 1949.  Dennis made a try-scoring debut in the 19-4 home victory against Keighley and also scored in the 8-34 reverse at Salford and ended the season with 13 appearances in the amber and black.

The 1949-50 season saw Bramley reach the semi-final of the Yorkshire cup. Their dreams of a first final were shattered by the eventual winners Bradford Northern in a tense and nail-biting tussle at the Barley Mow with Bradford scraping home by 8 points to six.  Dennis started the season in fine style. Scoring a try in the first match of the season, a 17-23 home defeat by Featherstone Rovers and then raced over for a brace of tries in the next match in the 17-7 victory against visiting Barrow.  He also scored the only try of the match as Bramley recorded a 5-4 home victory in the second round of the Yorkshire Cup against Keighley.  Despite an overall poor season for the Bramley club, Dennis was becoming a firm favourite with the Bramley faithful as in his 36 appearances that season he crossed for ten tries including two in the 16-42 defeat at Huddersfield and another brace in the 22-0 home thrashing of Liverpool Stanley while another highlight was scoring a try in the shock 10-0 victory at Hull KR.

His first appearance of the 50-51 season was also his 50th for the Bramley club in which he celebrated with a try in an impressive 13-8 win at Rochdale Hornets.  This was to be a brilliant season for Dennis as he topped the Bramley try-scoring list with an impressive 17 to his name. He scored in four consecutive matches during October, tries at Huddersfield (11-21) and Bradford Northern (16-30) and two at home to Whitehaven in a 24-18 victory and finally a try in the 14-all draw with the visiting Dewsbury side.  Dennis finished the season with an even better run as he scored in the final six matches of the season.  A try in each, first at Hull KR (12-38), at home to Halifax (12-6) followed by away trips to Oldham (11-24) and Dewsbury (5-7) the final home game of the season versus Barrow (24-11) and then in the 9-all draw at Liverpool Stanley to end a memorable personal season.

The following season was a complete opposite to the previous one as an injury-ravaged season resulted in Dennis just playing in four matches during the entire season.  A fully fit Dennis Warrior started the 1951-52 season with a try in the opening match of the season, an 11-40 defeat at Bradford Northern.  In a tough and challenging season for the Bramley club. Dennis was able to cross for seven tries from his 36 starts, highlights being a try-scorer in the 22-0 home win against Liverpool City and tries in successive games first in a 15-7 victory at home to Belle Vue Rangers and was followed by a try at Headingley in a 8-31 defeat to Leeds.  In the 5-4 victory at home to Oldham saw Dennis kick his first goal for the club and when he started against Wigan at Central Park on September 27th it was his 100th appearance for the Villagers. Sadly it was against a rampant Wigan side who won 52-7.

1953-54 and Dennis was back to his best and ended the season as joint top Bramley try-scorer for the season with New Zealand Maori Nepia, both centres ending with 14 tries. Tries in successive defeats, Leeds at home (8-31) and at Hull in the Yorkshire Cup (14-30) were eclipsed later in the season as Dennis crossed the whitewash in three successive games firstly in a thrilling 19-19 home draw against Wigan followed by a try in the 13-35 reverse at Oldham and then the scoring the only Bramley try as they defeated Leigh 9-8 at home.  He scored braces of tries in the 27-10 home win against Liverpool City and in the tense 13-14 defeat at Doncaster.  The final match of the season enabled Dennis to score his 50th try for the club in a 13-24 defeat at Leeds.

After the high of the previous season the 54-55 season found tries difficult to find for Dennis, due possibly to playing in all the positions from full-back to left-winger during the season, his willingness to play anywhere to help the club possibly contributed to his low tally.  The 11-4 victory at Doncaster in the second match of the season saw Dennis score both a try and a goal in an impressive away performance, a month later he scored again at Doncaster during a 7-4 victory in the Yorkshire Cup.  A try in the excellent 14-all home draw against Halifax was followed the following month win a try as Bramley hammered Hull KR 29-3 at the Barley Mow.  His final try of the season came as Bramley travelled to Headingley and almost caused a major shock before finally going down 16-19

After giving tremendous service for the club and also becoming one of the few players to be awarded a testimonial by the Bramley club, Dennis played his last match for the club on the 27th August 1955 in a 16-13 home Yorkshire Cup victory against Doncaster. The previous match had seen him score his final try for the club in a 14-40 defeat at Bradford Northern.

 

Season          Appearances          Tries         Goals

1948-49                 13                         2

1949-50                 36                      10

1950-51                 39                      17

1951-52                   4                        0

1952-53                 36                         7                  1

1953-54                 35                      14

1954-55                 29                        5                  1

1955-56                   2                        1

Total                     194                      56                  2