Bartlett made his first grade debut for Easts against St George at the Earl Park, Arncliffe in Round 8 1938.
This would be his only appearance for the club that year and was not included in the grand final team which lost to Canterbury-Bankstown.
Easts won the match 24–14 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of 24,167 spectators exacting revenge on their grand final loss 2 years before.
In 1941, Eastern Suburbs reached their 6th grand final in 8 years with the opponents this time being St George.
St George led 12–6 at half-time and were never troubled by Eastern Suburbs winning their first premiership by a score of 31–14 in front of 39,957 people.