In our latest Hull FC Rugby League Icon feature, Club Historian Bill Dalton looks back at the life and career of one of the Black & Whites’ greatest stars of the early 20th century, Jim Devereux.
Whilst the legend of the great Dally “The Master” Messenger has endured the tests of time, there was another great pioneering centre who many argue was just as good.
Jim Devereux was born in 1885 in the New South Wales town on Tenterfield, and as a talented youngster he played Rugby Union, making his New South Wales debut against New Zealand as a youth.
Dubbed as the “hero of the day” in that game in that game, it was clear that Devereux would go on to enjoy a successful career. But few would have envisaged him playing in the opposite code, but that became apparent he and all the other men who played for New South Wales against New Zealand were handed life bans from Metropolitan Rugby Union.
During the summer of 1907/08, eight Metropolitan Rugby Union clubs decided to break away to form their own competition, playing Northern Union rules. One of those club’s was Devereux’s own North Sydney.
After a strong start to their innaugral 1908 Rugby League season, Devereux earned a place at centre alongside Dally Messenger in Australia’s first ever Rugby League test against New Zealand.
Devereux’s form saw him earn a place in the pioneering Kangeroos tour of 1908-09 to England, where he became the first player to score a try in tests between Australia and Great Britain, when he crossed for the first three tries of the first test played in London.
Devereux scored more tries than anyone else in the squad on the tour.
As a result of his eye-brow raising form, Harry Dannatt, a director on the board of Hull Rugby League club managed to secure the services of Devereux and his North Sydney colleague Sid Deane at the conclusion of the tour in 1909.
His first spell at Hull lasted no more than two years, but he made a swift return to the Boulevard in 1913 to establish a lengthier stay in the city.
In his first year back at the club, Devereux helped the club to their first Challenge Cup title in the 1913-14 season before going on to score an impressive 21 tries in 19 appearances the following season.
That year saw the outbreak of World War One, and Devereux rose to the rank of Lance Corporal after enlisting with the British Army. His superiority in the military mirrored his dominance on the rugby field, as Devereux helped Hull win back-to-back Championships with wins over Huddersfield and Hull Kingston Rovers once world peace had been resumed in 1920 and 1921.
Coming towards the end of his playing career, the centre returned home to Australia in 1921 and hung up his boots in 1923 to take up a coaching tole with his hometown club North Sydney
Unable to translate the quality from his playing career into his coaching career, Devereux retured from Rugby League in 1925 and he wont on to work on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
In December 1929, he suffered horrific injuries when he was struck by a 35 ton girder that had fallen off a truck. He suffered fractures to his pelvis, left shoulder, and right leg, as well as suffering severe head injuries. He miraculously survived, however had the lower part of his right leg amputated.
Unable to work, the disability and accompanying medical costs also forced him and his wife into destitution.
In 1932, upon learning of the despair of Jimmy, his old club North Sydney donated money to help him out. However, it wasn’t enough before the end of the year, he sold his house and decided to to return to England with his life to live a more relaxed life, in an attempt to get away from the hardships that had befallen him since his accident.
Sadly, he passed away just two years later. He was made an honourary life member of the New South Wales Rugby League in 1914 and was named in the North Sydney Team of the Century in 2008.
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