It was so sad to hear of the death of Tony Dean last week, but I have to admit within minutes I couldn’t help but smile.

That is mainly because I can’t think of a single instance of ever dealing with Tony where you didn’t end up smiling.

As he probably was for his teammates when he played with distinction for Castleford, Hunslet and in his heyday at Hull, as a coach Dean was just a joy to work with.

When Tony took the reins as head coach at Wakefield Trinity in the summer of 1986, I was already in situ as rugby league writer for the Wakefield Express and was already well aware of Dean’s unique style as he was stepping up from being Len Casey’s assistant.

I have to admit that I have never known a coaching team like Casey and Dean before or since.

And most definitely not before as I had cut my teeth at the Pontefract and Castleford Express covering the men from Wheldon Road and Featherstone Rovers who at the time were coached by Malcom Reilly and Allan Agar, respectively.

Now the one thing that Malcolm and Allan had in common was a very serious approach to the game, so I have to admit that my arrival for my first training night at Belle Vue took me back more than a little.

Casey and Dean’s headquarters at Trinity’s ground were essentially the boot room into which no more than four averagely sized humans could fit – so given Len’s imposing physique it was a good job myself and Tony were on the shorter side.

On my arrival I was offered a tea and a biscuit, Jammie Dodgers to be precise with the top most biscuit having been replaced by one of those rubber ones you get from the joke shop.

This was just the beginning of the air of levity that would pervade everything about Trinity at the time, Casey and Dean were almost the perfect comedy- the only flaw being that neither one of them wanted to give way and be the straight-man.

The end of the 1985-86 season finished with Trinity promoted after finishing third in the old second division, but the downside was that Hull decided that Casey was the man they wanted as coach for the following season and Len, who was at the time supplementing his coaching income by running the Half Moon Inn at Elloughton, could hardly turn down the offer.

It left Tony in charge of Trinity’s top flight challenge and sadly, despite the fact that Wakefield boasted a truly smashing group of characters in the dressing room in the likes of Nigel Bell, Billy Conway, Johnny Lyons and the great John Thompson to name but a few, it was not enough to spare either the coach or the team a really rough ride in with the big boys.

Tony only managed to preside over four wins in 30-odd games in charge at Trinity, but it was the measure of his manner and approach to the game that I cannot once recall not wanting to head down to training sessions – somehow he would always still make it a laugh.

The Pontefract lad succumbed to cancer after a protracted illness had ended with him residing at the Prince of Wales hospice in his home town – I wish I had gone to see him.

The last time I saw Tony was perhaps fittingly at the side of a rugby pitch at Carr Bridge playing fields in Ackworth near Pontefract.

Tony was using his trademark mixture of energy and enthusiasm to propel local amateur side Ackworth Jaguars up the Yorkshire League and as ever I was greeted with a huge grin.

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