A league man to the core - Dennis Williams (NZ Test Player)
19 December 2002 by Campbell Burnes - Western Leader, New Zealand

Dennis Williams reaches a milestone next year that few would have believed possible in 1984. The Te Atatu and Kiwi league icon turns 50. After a car crash 18 years ago that left him fighting for his survival and his memories, Williams has now adapted to his new life and is content with his lot.

Still a staunch league man, he has some forthright views on the state of the modern day game and was only too happy to air these when the Western Leader caught up with him in his Te Atatu North home of many years.

Williams will not be as well known to the younger Te Atatu league fans as the likes of Henry and Robbie Paul, Sam Panapa, Peter Brown, and Shane and Mark Horo, but he wore the Roosters colours with pride from 1959 in the juniors to 1980 as player-coach.

He takes satisfaction that, though they struggled early in his career at premier level (which started at the tender age of 16), the Roosters cracked the Fox Memorial ARL semifinals towards the end of his tenure.

Former Te Atatu president and player Craig McCarten remembers Dennis Williams at his early peak and at the end of his illustrious career. "He was awesome. He had vision and was graceful, often thinking two or three plays ahead of the ball," McCarten says. "The Williams family is synonymous with rugby league.

Things changed after the accident but he still got down to the club to watch and come up for a beer." McCarten says he played against Williams when he first cracked premiers in 1981 (Williams had transferred to Glenora) and recalls the veteran being "strong in the torso, still very fit and making an impact physically."

Though born in Greenlane, Williams moved to Te Atatu when he was four, and but for a two-year spell in the Queensland outback of Mt Isa, has been a west Aucklander all his life. "I'm a league man. I'm biased, but I think it leaves the other code for dead in all sorts of areas except for support and money in New Zealand. I believe it's a lot faster and more demanding," Williams says.

He laments the state of local league, and is now an infrequent visitor to Jack Colvin Park to watch the Roosters. "Times have changed. I lost my mum and dad last year. I was still going to the odd game with Dad, but since I've lost them there isn't the same interest locally.

Te Atatu is struggling and has copped it more than most." The once-proud club found itself in the second tier Sharman Cup in 2002, but has turned to another favourite son in Sam Panapa to guide its premiers' fortunes. "Sam might be the good man for the job. He has a different way of doing things but he's a real gentleman.

"League has changed forever with the Warriors but that doesn't mean to say Te Atatu couldn't get up to to be a competitive team and feed the Warriors," Williams says. With League of Legend tickets, Williams is a regular at Ericsson Stadium to see the hottest ticket in town this year. It wasn't always like that.

"I remember there were days when the 20 seats on either side of me were empty. Now the interest in the Warriors is fantastic. But having said that, a few losses next year and they'll all disappear again."

He is an unabashed admirer of several key Warriors players. "Stacey Jones has improved out of sight over the last couple of years. There's always been big wraps on him but he hasn't always shown his full potential until the last couple of years. " His kicking game wasn't that flash, but this year it's been magnificent. He's someone who can make something out of nothing.

But to me, without (Kevin) Campion they wouldn't have been as successful. He was the rock of that team. Then you've got the fantastic ability of (Ali) Lauiti'iti and you put these three together with the flair of these other guys and it's been fantastic to watch."

He believes Gary Freeman's Kiwis didn't pay enough respect to the British style of play on its recent tour in which the test series was drawn 1-1. "To be honest, they got what they deserved, unfortunately. I enjoyed the Poms' style of football. Every one of them has some sort of skill. I grew up and learnt a lot off the Pommie style of football. While the power, pace and fitness isn't there, their forwards can sidestep and drop little passes. For the game of rugby league, it was good they won the last test," Williams says.

Though Williams has more Samoan than Maori blood, he played for and captained the New Zealand Maori for a number of years. The Maori, which included a number of Samoans in the team, drew with Australia in 1980. These were the days when Samoa had no national league team.

It is almost eerie how the career of his rugby union namesake and fellow Samoan Kiwi, Bryan "BeeGee" Williams, almost exactly mirrors that of Dennis Williams. Both were at their peaks before they left their teenage years, Bryan at 19 on the 1970 All Black tour of South Africa and Dennis at 18 on the 1971 tour of Britain and France. Bryan wowed the South African crowds with his sidestepping runs, often behind the goal line, while Dennis scored a brilliant solo try with his first touch in a test match to launch a stellar career.

Both played on for another decade until injury caught up with them in the early 1980s. The parallels continue now with one of Dennis' daughters a schoolmate of Bryan's daughter. At representative league level, the standoff or centre answers without hesitation when asked to list his favourite teams, whose photos take pride of place on his wall. "The 1971 Auckland and Kiwis teams. I was lucky to play with some magnificent footballers at that time, but also it showed I had some ability to play with them."

The Auckland team went through that season unbeaten and even defeated Australia by one point, Williams marking the great Bob "Bozo" Fulton. The Kiwis were just as dominant and included some superb footballers, of the ilk of Tony Kriletich, a young Dane Sorensen, Bill Burgoyne, Henry Tatana and Ken Stirling. Don Mann senior, father of Kiwi captain and Warriors original Duane Mann, was also in the mix.

Williams finished his playing career in the Queensland outback for Mt Isa as player-coach in 1983, a bad arm injury (similar to the one that afflicted Mal Meninga for many years) ruling out a Kiwi comeback at the age of 29. He says "it's as weak as anything now" and occasionally the metal plate embedded in the arm sets off the scanner at his airport work.

He started a coaching career with Northern Districts in 1984 before fate struck in October of that year. A car accident left Williams fighting for his life and he suffered brain damage. "To look at now I'm fine. But I had to learn to walk and talk again. Even now I only sleep about three hours a night and my short-term memory is a disaster. "Through a lot of things, fitness being one, and determination, but also a lot of medical treatment and love from my family I got back on track and now I pretty well lead a normal life."

Williams still looks a fit and sprightly man as he nears the half-century mark. He's become a netball fan, following the fortunes of his three daughters, who have represented the Auckland and Waitakere associations. The support of his wife Sheryl is unstinting.

One of the truly great men of league.

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