DREAMTEAM
KYLE DENCH, THE OTLEY HEAD COACH AND FORMER PLAYER, WHO ALSO PLAYED CENTRE FOR HARROGATE, YORKSHIRE & ENGLAND COUNTIES, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST…
1. Justin Wring – ‘The Bull’. Part of a formidable front row that scared most of us never mind the opposition. A huge man and one to have on your side. Former Stade Francis, Bristol and Leeds player.
2. Mark Luffman – Unbelievable lineout thrower. Much quieter than the two alongside him. Again, it was much better to have him on your team! Joey Graham came a close second.
3. Kris Fullman – The heartbeat of the fight in that front row. A great, tough, down-to-earth man who played for Bristol, London Irish and Leeds as well as Otley. LOVED a ‘scrummage!’
4. Jason Oakes – Full of character and super talented, as we saw when he got picked up by Newcastle in 2006. Loved a tussle more than anyone. It was such a shame that his time in the Premiership was cut short by injury.
5. Olly Kohn – Although more suited to a wet day at The Rec, I played with Olly in Australia and he was brilliant. Huge man. Always a smile on his face. Hopefully he’ll send me some sausages for putting him in this!
6. Mark Wilson – Part of one of the amazing England Counties tours I went on. He just never stopped, pure grit. It was great to see all that endeavour rewarded ed with England caps.
7. Will Fraser – A young man on our Counties tour to Canada. Pure class, a Rolls Royce of a back rower. Special mention to Nathan Bland, the former Otley flanker– he was the most dogged, unassuming player that ever existed.
8. Maifea Maifea – Former Taranaki player signed from Harrogate by Otley and watched by Samoan selectors before he had to stop playing. A pure athlete, who ripped teams apart with his pace and power.
9. Guy Easterby – A top man, great for a group and so switched on to dictate play. Special mention to Sale‘s Will Cliff and former NZ Māori Brendan Haami.
10. Mike Aspinall – One of my best friends and Fraser Fullman a complete maverick! Tactically very good and crazy talented, but I did most of his tackling. Mark Woodrow is another who could create something from nothing and control a game.
11. Nick Royle – The ultimate try-scoring machine, who is somehow still doing it now. Jamie Broadley deserves a notable mention, too.
12. Alex Lozowski – Back in his Leeds Uni days you could see the ability he had. A natural sportsman. Great to see him back in the England reckoning.
13. Steve Parsons – One of the hardest people to tackle – pure power, an explosion of arms and legs getting him the nickname ‘the angry golf bag’. Sam Bottomley deserves a mention too. A player every team needs. Easily did two men’s defensive work per game.
14. Waisale Sovatabua – Fijian Super League winger who won the Challenge Cup in RL. Was a thorn is so many teams’ sides. He would pop up from nowhere and had the ability to knock people over and make crazy offloads stick.
15. Ian Shuttleworth – The man of many stories. Ice cold under pressure, safe as houses under a high ball and because of his size got away with every tackle being high.
