Old Denis. Lovely fella. Softly spoken and was quite shy at School. What
HE told me in 1981 was quite simple.
Denis, who was an East Linfield boy, had wished to repeat yr 12 at the swamp (he liked the school a lot and had made many mates). Riverview I believe (and you have confirmed) did not permit repeats. (Joeys though were quite different on an industrial scale but this is for another time). The family looked around for a school that matched their faith and considered Aloysius as it is run by the Jesuits. Denis was not impressed with the sports program as he wanted to continue his athletics. They hesitantly approached Joeys and asked if they would allow a boy to repeat into yr 12 after spending his past six years across the river. Unheard of at the time. Unsure if this has been repeated. They were also nervous at how the country Joeys boys (80% back then) would react to this city slick.
It was considered and debated by the college council. (The late Mr Lantry confirmed this with me) It was finally deccided that Denis would be allowed to attend but the family would still pay the normal fee schedule. To their family's delight the Joeys fees at that time were 2/3 of Riverview. Why? When the majority of staff are Marist brothers who do not draw a salary, costs come down.
Denis did well at Joeys. A basketball, athletics and of course rugby premiership. He was good but the better winger was Gerry O'Hearn who went on to play Oz Schools in 1982. He was quiet, kept to himself early but over time the classmates drew him out. Denis had a shy smile but could crack a joke with his dry humor.
On speaking with staff who were there at Joeys at the time they feel the whole matter was used a punching bag against Joeys. Do not get me wrong, Denis was a welcome addition to the College program but he became the face for many years of allegations that Joeys had given him "the word that shall not be spoken" when it was simply not true. He rarely speaks now and I only saw him briefly when I caught up with Peter Tonkin up the coast. In the case of Denis, "it looked like a duck, it walked like a duck but it was a fish".
Hope this explains.
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