Rleague Interview: Former International Brett Dallas Fri November 7, 2008 by Matthew O'Neill Brett Dallas enjoyed 15 seasons at the top playing for Canterbury, North Sydney and Wigan where he represented Queensland and Australia and was a member of the Bulldogs Grand Final winning squad in 1995.
Dallas joined the Bulldogs in 1992 from Mackay where he was spotted by Chris Anderson and played in the Presidents Cup side coached by Geoff Robinson, which Dallas gave a big wrap too.
Blessed with plenty of speed Dallas made his first grade debut in 1992 when he came on as a replacement for Darren Smith after playing the full game in Presidents Cup and half a game in Reserve Grade. Dallas scored a try on debut and set the platform for his career ahead.
Dallas enjoyed a fine 1993 season and was selected in the third game of that series. Dallas talks about Peter Moore's influence in his selection for that game in the interview with Rleague.com.
Luck wasn't always on the side of Dallas and he missed the 1994 Grand Final due to the sensational form of Jason Williams and he missed the 1995 decider after sustaining a hamstring injury the week before.
Dallas paid tribute to Peter 'Bullfrog' Moore and Barry 'Punchy' Nelson for the way they ran the Bulldogs and referred to Terry Lamb as the most consistent player he had played alongside and in fact has ever seen. Dallas also paid a special tribute to Lamb for handing him his Grand Final winners medal after Dallas missed the Bulldogs 17-4 victory against Manly in 1995.
Aside from the Bulldogs, Dallas also talks about the 1995 State of Origin series under the coaching of Paul 'Fatty' Vautin, the 1995 World Cup tournament, his time at North Sydney and the move across to England to play for Wigan. Dallas also talks about the differences between the NRL and Super League competitions.
Dallas finishes off by letting the listeners what he's up to today, the big influences on his career and the great characters he played alongside where he highlighted Matthew Johns at the top of the tree ahead of Lamb and Brian Carney.
Click on the two links below to listen to the two part interview or right hand mouse click here to download the wmv file.
Dallas announces retirement Thu January 11, 2007 by Matthew O'Neill Former Canterbury, North Sydney, Wigan, Queensland and Australian winger Brett Dallas has shelved plans of returning to the NRL and called it a day on his playing career.
The 31-year-old said, "I'm going to give playing a miss. My body has had enough, and I'm looking forward to doing something different.
"It feels weird not being back there in Wigan, running up hills in sub zero temperatures! I'll be watching all the Wigan games I can next season. I said before I left I think they'll go well this year."
Dallas came to Canterbury in 1992 as a fresh faced 17-year-old and his performances in Geoff Robinson's Under 21's side impressed Bulldogs coach Chris Anderson to give him a few runs in the first grade side with his debut coming against Cronulla at Belmore Sports Ground as a replacement for Darren Smith. Dallas scored a try displaying his dashing speed from the outset.
Anderson rewarded Dallas' promise with a permanent position in 1993 and his form continued to shine where he won selection for Queensland in the 3rd State of Origin match. Dallas didn't have the happiest of debut's but he was to comeback in 1995 and prove he could handle the next step. Injuries cut into the remainder of Dallas' season and his comeback in the 1993 Preliminary Final was a match to forget.
Injuries again hampered Dallas' season in 1994 and with Jason Williams and Daryl Halligan both in career best form he was forced to watch the Grand Final that season as a non-playing reserve. Dallas regained his first grade position in 1995 with Williams moved to fullback prior to Rod Silva's arrival. Dallas soon lost his position in the top side but with Queensland ripped apart by the Super League signings he was selected in the Maroons side and produced three of his finest ever performances as Paul Vautin guided Queensland to a 3-0 clean sweep. Dallas won selection in the Australian Test side that season and also played part in the victorious World Cup Final. Dallas did the unthinkable after his debut Test swapping jerseys with Williams who was his Canterbury teammate and opposite number in the Test.
Dallas regained his place in the Bulldogs side as they limped their way into the 1995 Finals and charged their way into the Grand Final. Unfortunately he injured his calf moments before half-time in the Qualifying Final against Canberra and was ruled out of the Grand Final the following week. In a tribute to Dallas' contribution that season, Canterbury captain and Rugby League legend Terry Lamb handed Dallas his Grand Final medal.
The Queensland winger left the Super League alligned Bulldogs and joined North Sydney where he enjoyed four fruitful seasons. Norths were one of the dominant sides between 1996-98 and Dallas had a field day outwide scoring plenty of tries and receiving opportunities galore and he was free of injuries. Dallas struggled in 1999 and with Norths being forced into a merger with Manly he headed across to England where he joined to play Wigan.
Dallas enjoyed seven seasons at the Warriors where tasted Challenge Cup success in 2002 and played in three unsuccessful Grand Final campaigns in 2000, 2001 and 2003. He was leading try-scorer in 2004 with 24 and proved to be a crowd favourite with the Wigan faithful.
The 2006 season was to be Dallas' final one for the Warriors, playing his final game against Hull FC on the 15th September 2006. After the game he received an amazing standing ovation, he then touched the heart strings of the Wigan supporters by removing his boots and leaving them in the centre of the JJB Stadium pitch.
After finishing up with Wigan he returned back to Australia to live in Sydney. He had been approaced by the Gold Coast and two Sydney clubs but decided to turn both offers down to focus on the next stage of his career.
Settling into the Sydney suburbs with wife Sally and daughter Ava, Dallas is planning to launch an electrical busuiness and said, "The electrical business will be up and running in the next few weeks. It will be a shock to the system doing a full day's work again!"
Dallas also admits he has been putting off informing former Wigan coach and outstanding Great Britain forward Mike Gregory of his decision to quit and not return to the NRL. "I've not told 'Greg' yet. He'll find some way of trying to get me to play again!"
In a career spanning 15 seasons, Dallas played 43 matches for the Bulldogs between 1992-95 where he scored 18 tries. At North Sydney Dallas amassed 57 games and scored 33 tries between 1996-99. His career total in the Australian competition was 110 matches for 51 tries. Dallas represented Queensland in 10 matches, scoring four tries between 1993-97 and played for Australia in six Tests in 1995-96, scoring nine tries. Dallas' Wigan statistics are unavailable and will be placed into the article when available.
[View] Round 1 [11 Feb 06] L 30-38 v Catalans (A). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 2 [17 Feb 06] L 16-24 v Leeds (H). [WG] [View] Round 3 [24 Feb 06] W 36-20 v Huddersfield (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 4 [03 Mar 06] L 10-28 v Salford (A). [WG] [View] Round 5 [10 Mar 06] L 12-24 v Warrington (H). [FB] [View] Round 6 [19 Mar 06] L 18-38 v Castleford (A). [WG] [View] Round 7 [24 Mar 06] L 12-34 v Bulls (A). [WG] [View] Round 8 [07 Apr 06] L 14-40 v Wakefield (A). [WG] 8 Pts; 2t [View] Round 9 [14 Apr 06] L 10-48 v St Helens (A). [WG] [View] Round 10 [17 Apr 06] L 18-30 v Harlequins (H). [WG] [View] Round 11 [22 Apr 06] W 46-14 v Huddersfield (A). [WG] 8 Pts; 2t [View] Round 14 [13 May 06] L 8-10 v Wakefield (A). [WG] [View] Round 15 [27 May 06] L 14-28 v St Helens (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 16 [09 Jun 06] L 22-48 v Leeds (A). [WG] [View] Round 17 [18 Jun 06] W 24-18 v Les Catalans (H). [WG] [View] Round 18 [23 Jun 06] W 30-12 v Warrington (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 19 [01 Jul 06] W 26-24 v Harlequins (A). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 20 [07 Jul 06] W 42-24 v Wakefield (H). [WG] [View] Round 21 [14 Jul 06] W 20-12 v Salford City (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 22 [23 Jul 06] L 20-22 v Warrington (A). [WG] [View] Round 28 [15 Sep 06] W 38-16 v Hull FC (H). [WG]
[View] Round 1 [11 Feb 05] W 15-4 v Salford (H). [WG] [View] Round 3 [25 Feb 05] L 27-28 v Bulls (H). [WG] [View] Round 4 [06 Mar 05] W 32-20 v Widnes (A). [WG] [View] Round 5 [12 Mar 05] L 20-34 v London (A). [WG] [View] Round 6 [18 Mar 05] W 62-6 v Leigh (H). [WG] 8 Pts; 2t [View] Round 7 [25 Mar 05] W 22-20 v St Helens (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 8 [28 Mar 05] W 21-15 v Hull (A). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 9 [08 Apr 05] L 16-24 v Huddersfield (A). [WG] [View] Round 10 [15 Apr 05] L 14-38 v Rhinos (H). [WG] [View] Round 11 [22 Apr 05] L 8-40 v Bulls (A). [WG] 8 Pts; 2t [View] Round 12 [29 Apr 05] W 23-22 v Widnes (H). [WG] [View] Round 13 [15 May 05] L 22-28 v Warrington (A). [WG] [View] Round 14 [20 May 05] L 24-26 v Huddersfield (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 15 [30 May 05] W 34-20 v Salford (A). [WG] 8 Pts; 2t [View] Round 16 [03 Jun 05] L 18-22 v London (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 17 [10 Jun 05] L 24-28 v Hull (H). [WG] [View] Round 19 [01 Jul 05] W 30-22 v Leigh (A). [WG] [View] Round 20 [09 Jul 05] W 36-17 v Warrington (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 22 [22 Jul 05] L 28-34 v Wildcats (H). [WG] [View] Round 23 [05 Aug 05] W 40-12 v Salford (H). [FB] [View] Round 24 [14 Aug 05] W 48-24 v Widnes (A). [FB] [View] Round 25 [21 Aug 05] W 28-24 v Hull (A). [FB] [View] Round 26 [02 Sep 05] W 24-22 v Rhinos (H). [FB] [View] Round 27 [09 Sep 05] L 12-38 v St Helens (H). [FB] [View] Round 28 [18 Sep 05] W 36-22 v Huddersfield (A). [FB]
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