Dan Dempsey

Dan Dempsey

Dempsey 1932
Personal information
Born	(1902-12-15)15 December 1902
Died
Playing information
Position	Hooker
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
19??–25	Brothers (Warwick)
1925–3?	Tivoli
	Total	0	0	0	0	0
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1924–25	Toowoomba
1925–34	Queensland	31
1933–35	Ipswich
1928–34	Australia	7	0	0	0	0
Source: Rugby League Project

Dan Dempsey (15 January 1902 – 9 January 1960) was an Australian rugby league national and Queensland state representative player. He played his career at Hooker and is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.

Biography

Club career

He played with the Toowoomba side in 1924-25. Alongside Herb Steinohrt, Tom Gorman and Duncan Thompson Dempsey was in the Toowoomba sides which beat all comers including Sydney premiers Souths, Brisbane, Ipswich and visiting representative sides including New South Wales, Victoria, Great Britain and New Zealand.

In the 1930s he played with Ipswich and was a major influence in the years 1933-1935 when Ipswich dominated the Bulimba Cup, the triangular series played between the city representative sides from Brisbane, Toowoomba and Ipswich.

Representative career

Dempsey played in all three Tests of the 1928 domestic Ashes series and in the first two Tests of the 1932 domestic series. In the famous "Battle of Brisbane" Test of 1932, Dempsey was forced off the field with a broken arm early in the second half. Dempsey, his arm placed in splints, began weeping on the touchline because both the ambulanceman and the team's manager, Harry Sunderland wouldn't let him back into the game. He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No.135.

He made two Kangaroo tours: 1929-30 where he played in one Test and nine tour matches and 1933-34 playing one Test and eleven minor games. All up Dempsey played in four Ashes series against Great Britain.

Accolades

In February 2008, Dempsey was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.

Dempsey 2nd from left, Kangaroos 1st Test 6 Jun 1932

Run-on Test side plus mgrs 6 Jun 1932, Dempsey centre of back row

In 2008, rugby league in Australia's centenary year, Dempsey was named at hooker in the Toowoomba and South West Team of the Century.

Sources

• Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
• Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
• Fagan, Sean (2000–2006) RL1908.com
• Queensland Representatives at qrl.com.au