John Herbert Devine (22 June 1940 – 29 January 2023) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) during the 1960s, and

Tasmanian Football League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian r ...

(TFL) side North Hobart between 1967 and 1974.

Australian rules football career

A defender, Devine was recruited to as a 20-year-old from Colac, and he made his debut for Geelong against Footscray in round 1 of the

1960 VFL season The 1960 VFL season was the 64th season of the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 16 A ...

. Devine would quickly become an integral part of a rising Geelong team. On 6 July 1963, he was a member of the Geelong team that were comprehensively and unexpectedly beaten by Fitzroy, 9.13 (67) to 3.13 (31) in the

1963 Miracle Match The 1963 Miracle Match was an Australian rules football game contested in the second half of the 1963 VFL season home-and-away competition’s round 10 "split round" matches. The match, between the Fitzroy Football Club and the Geelong Fo ...

. Given the nickname "Colac" by his teammates, in 1963 Devine was a member of Geelong's premiership team playing off the half-back flank where he was named amongst the best for Geelong. Devine would earn a reputation as a 'big-game player', consistently named amongst Geelong's best players in multiple finals matches. Devine would play 118 games for Geelong, was vice-captain from 1961–1966, and was runner-up in the Carji Greeves Medal in 1960 and 1965. He also represented

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Devine's last game for Geelong was during the finals of the

1966 VFL season The 1966 VFL season was the 70th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 23 April until 24 September, and comprised an ...

, where he would be suspended for striking David Shaw. In 1967 while still under suspension from the 1966 VFL season, he coached Tasmanian Football League side North Hobart over the boundary fence until his six-week suspension was finished. Devine went on that year to lead his very young team from last place in 1966 to a TFL premiership. He was best on ground in the

1967 Tasmanian State Premiership Final The 1967 Tasmanian State Premiership Final (colloquially known as the Goalpost Final) was an Australian rules football match played between the Wynyard Cats and the North Hobart Robins on Saturday 30 September 1967 at West Park Oval, Burnie, ...

in which North Hobart took part, and (now playing as a forward) kicked five goals; the game is part of Australian rules folklore because the supporters of opposing team, Wynyard, tore down the goal posts before North Hobart's Dickie Collins could take his kick from point-blank range from a mark just before the siren. Devine captain-coached two more TFL premierships in 1969 and 1974, and he also helped his team take out the

Tasmanian State Premiership The Tasmanian State Premiership was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested at the conclusion of the season, initially between the reigning Tasmanian Football League (TFL/TANFL) and Northern Tasmanian Football Association (N ...

in 1969 following wins over NWFU premiers Latrobe, led and coached by Darrel Baldock, and NTFA premiers Launceston coached by Bob Withers. The State Premiership final against Launceston at

York Park York Park is a sports ground in the Inveresk and York Park Precinct, Launceston, Australia. Holding 19,000 people – the largest capacity stadium in Tasmania, York Park is known commercially as University of Tasmania Stadium and was formerly ...

saw Devine's North Hobart win by a record 20 goals. He was nicknamed "Dead Legs" due to his loping running style, which belied his speed and hard-at-the-ball playing style. He returned to coach North Hobart in 1981, which by then was a struggling outfit, and returned a disappointing one win for the season in taking out the wooden spoon before retiring. Devine returned to Geelong in an official capacity in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, when he became Geelong's coach after the departure of

Tom Hafey Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

. During his tenure, Devine recruited many players such as future Geelong Team of the Century ruck-rover

Garry Hocking Garry Andrew Hocking (born 8 October 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Tough and skilled in equal measure, Hocking was an integral part of Geelong's ...

, future captain Mark Bairstow,

Billy Brownless Anthony William Brownless (born 28 January 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer and radio and television media personality who represented in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1980s and 1990s. Early life Brownless was ...

Bruce Lindner Bruce Norman Lindner (born 20 June 1961) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the nephew of legendary footba ...

, Gavin Exell, Barry Stoneham and David Cameron. All players would play a role in the team reaching the VFL Grand Final in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, with only Exell missing out due to injury. At the end of the

1988 VFL season The 1988 VFL season was the 92nd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition and administrative body in Victoria, and by reason of it featuring clubs from New South Wales, Queensl ...

when Geelong finished 10th, Devine was not retained as coach. Devine was awarded life membership of the Geelong Football Club in 1993 and was inducted into the club's hall of fame in 2002. In 2014, Devine was inducted as a legend into the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame.

Political career

Devine was a Labor Party member of the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

from 1979 to 1984 in the Denison electorate.

Personal life and death

Devine died on 29 January 2023, at the age of 82.

References

Bibliography

External links