Career Record for Featherstone
Appearances			Tries	Goals	Drop Goals	Points
Total	Start	Sub
307	285	22	15	1	0	47

Known as the 'Gentle Giant', Les Tonks was a colossus of a man who was 6ft 3in tall and weighed 18.5st; he played a more important part in the Rovers team than outsiders credited. He was signed from the junior side in June 1960 and was given time to gain experience in the reserves. His first appearance for the seniors was at Warrington on 9 September 1961 but that was only one of two appearances he made that season, as he was mainly involved in helping the 'A' team win the Yorkshire Senior Competition Championship. With Abe Terry, Len Hammill and Malcolm Dixon competing for the prop positions, his appearances continued to be restricted and what a tough baptism he had. After his appearance at Warrington, his next appearances were at Doncaster, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Swinton and Halifax before he finally made his home debut v Hull KR in April 1963.

With the departure of Hammill and Terry, he was able to establish himself from 1964 but missed out on a Yorkshire Cup final medal in November 1966 with the arrival of Colin Forsyth. They vied for the number eight spot as the Rovers embarked on their 1967 Wembley run, but Tonks won the day and made the first of three appearances for Rovers at Wembley.  He is one of only three players who played in 1967, 1973 and 1974. He also made the Yorkshire Cup final team which lost to Hull in November 1969 but, again, he missed out in the 1970 encounter with Leeds. Indeed his career might have taken a different turn then because he went on loan to Hull KR in 1970 but declined to move permanently and was then back in favour at the beginning of 1970/71. From then, he was a model of consistency, enjoying a run of 43 consecutive appearances from September 1971 to October 1971 and, when that was broken, he promptly embarked on another consecutive run of 50 appearances from February 1973 to November 1974, when he was injured at Rochdale. In the midst of this consistency, he earned the Player of the Year award for 1972/73, the same season appropriately enough, which had been designated for his testimonial. 40 appearances in both 1972 and 1973 were fitting testimony to his consistency and stamina, but when coach Peter Fox moved to Wakefield during the close season of 1974, he decided to join Fox there.  His last match was, therefore, the 1974 RL Cup final against Warrington, when he gained his only Wembley runners-up medal.

Tonks was top class in the days when prop forwards were vital in providing solidity in the pack and enabling the hooker to pivot successfully to strike for the ball. His stature was deceptive as he seemingly ambled through a game, but he read the game shrewdly and often appeared at the right place at the right time.  He was a committed advocate of moving up in the middle of the field having passed the ball, because the ball would invariably come back to the middle. He was always encouraging younger players in his quiet unassuming way, but no-one bossed the pack when he was around - a gentle giant indeed!

 

Biography by Ron Bailey