Jim Devereux

{{Short description|Australian RL coach and former Australia international rugby league footballer}}

{{Infobox rugby league biography

|name = Jimmy Devereux

|fullname = James Devereux

|image = Jimmy deveraux.jpg

|imagesize = 192

|caption =

|birth_date = {{birth date|1887|06|27|df=y}}

|birth_place = Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1934|03|07|1887|06|27|df=yes}}{{cite web | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/230536345 | title=Jim Devereaux Dead | newspaper=Sun | date=22 March 1934 |via=Trove}}

|death_place = Wisbech, England, United Kingdom

|height =

|weight =

|first = RU

|ru_position = ?

|ru_club1 = ?

|ru_year1start =

|ru_year1end =

|ru_appearances1 =

|ru_tries1 =

|ru_goals1 =

|ru_fieldgoals1 =

|ru_points1 =

|position = {{Rlp|CE}}

|club1 = North Sydney

|year1start = 1908

|year1end =

|appearances1 = 6

|tries1 = 4

|goals1 = 0

|fieldgoals1 = 0

|points1 = 12

|club2 = Hull FC

|year2start = 1909

|year2end = 10

|appearances2 =

|tries2 = 21

|goals2 =

|fieldgoals2 =

|points2 =

|club3 = North Sydney

|year3start = 1910

|year3end = 13

|appearances3 = 11

|tries3 = 5

|goals3 = 0

|fieldgoals3 = 0

|points3 = 15

|club4 = Hull FC

|year4start = 1913

|year4end = 21

|appearances4 = 181

|tries4 = 101

|goals4 = 5

|fieldgoals4 = 0

|points4 = 313

|teamA = New South Wales

|yearAstart = 1907

|yearAend = 13

|appearancesA = 6

|triesA = 3

|goalsA = 0

|fieldgoalsA = 0

|pointsA = 9

|teamB = Australia

|yearBstart = 1908

|yearBend = 09

|appearancesB = 8

|triesB = 3

|goalsB = 1

|fieldgoalsB = 0

|pointsB = 11

|coachteam1 = North Sydney

|coachyear1start = 1924

|coachyear1end = 25

|coachgames1 = 20

|coachwins1 = 9

|coachdraws1 = 1

|coachlosses1 = 10

|updated =

|source = [http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/jim-devereux/summary.html rugbyleagueproject.org]

}}

James Devereux (1887–1934), also known by the nickname of "Muscles",{{cite news| last =Masters|first =Roy|title =Enlisting Kangaroos were followed by NSW league players in their thousands| work =Sydney Morning Herald| page =44| publisher =Fairfax Media| date =25 April 2014 }} was a pioneering Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. As New South Wales state and Australia national representative three-quarter back, he played in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership from its first season in 1908 for the North Sydney club,[http://www.yesterdayshero.com.au/PlayerProfile_Jim-Devereux_2412.aspx Jim Devereux] at yesterdayshero.com.au before playing several seasons in England with Hull FC. He later returned to Australia and coached North Sydney.

Playing career

The son of Irish immigrant parents, Michael and Honorah Devereux,{{cite web|author-link=Andrew Moore (historian) |last=Moore |first=Andrew |title=Jimmy Devereux's Yorkshire pudding: Reflections on the origins of rugby league in New South Wales and Queensland |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/TomBrock/TomBrockLecture1.pdf |work=1st Annual Tom Brock Lecture |publisher=Tom Brock Bequest Committee |access-date=17 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808034617/http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/TomBrock/TomBrockLecture1.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2012 |location=Australia |year=2000 |url-status=dead}} Devereux played for the first ever New South Wales rugby league team in their début match against New Zealand, and later on was selected to play in the first ever trans-Tasman test, which was début match of the Australia national rugby league team against New Zealand on the return leg of their tour of Britain. Devereaux is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No. 4.ARL Annual Report 2005, page 52 He went on to play in all three matches.

Devereaux was a member of the Australian side selected for the first ever Kangaroo tour and was the first Australian to score a try in rugby league against Great Britain when he got a hat-trick in the first ever Test between the nations. After the tour he stayed in England and played for Hull FC, and became the first player to score 100 tries for the club.[http://www.hullfc.com/page.aspx?p=1088 Hull's Australians] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427115046/http://www.hullfc.com/page.aspx?p=1088 |date=27 April 2014 }} at hullfc.com He was awarded Life Membership of the New South Wales Rugby League in 1914.Referee, Sydney. 13 May 1914.

Jim Devereux played at {{rlp|ce}} in Hull FC's 7–7 draw with Leeds in the 1910 Challenge Cup Final during the 1909–10 season at Fartown Ground, Huddersfield, on Saturday 16 April 1910, in front of a crowd of 19,413 as this was the first Challenge Cup Final to be drawn. He also played at {{rlp|ce}} in the 12–26 defeat by Leeds in the 1910 Challenge Cup Final replay at Fartown Ground, Huddersfield, on Monday 18 April 1910, in front of a crowd of 11,608, and played {{rlp|so}} in the 6–0 victory over Wakefield Trinity in the 1914 Challenge Cup Final during the 1913–14 season at Thrum Hall, Halifax, in front of a crowd of 19,000.

Devereux was in England during World War I and served in the military. In April 1916 he gained selection in an Australasian servicemen's rugby union side{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Tony|author-link=Tony Collins (historian)|title=Rugby League in Twentieth Century Britain|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|location=England|isbn= 9780415396141|pages=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6nXcpxXzWsC}} but the war he resumed his playing career with Hull.

Testimonial matches at Hull F.C. were shared with; Jim Devereux, Tom Herridge, William Holder and Ned Rogers, and took place against Keighley at The Boulevard, Hull on Saturday 29 January 1921, and against York at The Boulevard, Hull on Saturday 12 February 1921.

Post playing

Returning to Australia after the War, Devereux coached North Sydney in the 1924 NSWRFL season, and worked as a labourer on the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. On 3 December 1929, his leg was crushed in an industrial accident on the bridge, and was subsequently amputated at Royal North Shore Hospital. Devereux was unable to work thereafter, and came close to destitution. The North Sydney Leagues Club voted him a £50 donation in 1932 to assist with living costs.

Devereux died in England on 7 March 1934Sydney Morning Herald: Death Notice 24/03/1934 (page 14) as stated in the Sydney Sun by Claude Corbett on 22 March 1934.The Sun (Sydney) 22 March 1934 "Jim Devereaux Dead" by Claude Corbett: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/230536345?searchTerm=jim%20devereaux

The Sydney Sun newspaper noted on 30 October 1941, that "Devereux had died about 4 years ago." Some argued for many years that he died at sea, but his death was later confirmed as being registered at Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. His wife, Daisy Elizabeth Deveruex née Heath, did not remarry and died at Leeds in 1956.Tom Brock Lecture: Andrew Moore

On 26 August 2006, the North Sydney club announced their team of the century, with Devereux named in the centres.