Brian Eyrl Bevan (24 January 1924 – 3 June 1991), also known by the
nickname
A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...
of "Wing Wizard", was an Australian professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He became the only player ever to be inducted into both the
Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame and
British Rugby League Hall of Fame. An
Other Nationalities representative and the record try scorer in the history of the
Rugby League European Championship, Bevan scored a world record 796 tries, mainly for
Warrington
Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
. In 2008, the centenary year of
rugby league in Australia, he was named on the wing of
Australia's Team of the Century (1908–2007). Bevan was the only player chosen in the team who had never represented
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in a test match.
Early years
Brian Eyrl Bevan was born in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
on 24 January 1924.
The son of former
Eastern Suburbs' player Rick Bevan, Brian Bevan began his career playing for Easts in
1942
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
. He made eight appearances for the club. When
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
began in 1939 he decided to join the
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...
, which restricted his appearances for the club. Bevan never scored a try for Easts. His brother, Owen 'Ozzy' Bevan played for Sydney club the
St George Dragons as well as Warrington.
Britain
1940s
Bevan arrived on board in Britain in 1946, and all he had with him was a letter of recommendation written by former Eastern Suburbs Test winger
Bill Shankland.
Bevan requested a trial with
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, which was a suggestion from Shankland, but the club decided against signing him partially due to his frail looking appearance. Shankland also recommended he try
Hunslet if Leeds refused to sign him, but once again he was turned down. He then decided to try his luck with the Warrington club. Warrington decided to give him an 'A' team trial in November in which he scored a try. The club were impressed with his first performance and decided to play him in the first team a week later. The club then decided to sign him on a permanent basis on a
£300 contract. He returned home to Australia for several months in order to complete his Navy service, before returning to Warrington.
In
1946–47, his first season, Bevan scored 48 tries for the club – 14 tries more than any other player in the league. Bevan was the top try scorer in England in five seasons.
Bevan was the
1947–48 Northern Rugby Football League season's top try scorer and also played for Warrington in their Championship final victory.
Bevan scored a try in Warrington's 8–14 defeat by
Wigan in the
1948–49 Lancashire Cup Final during the
1948–49 season at
Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 13 November 1948,
1950s
Brian Bevan played on the in
Warrington
Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
's 19–0 victory over
Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400.
Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...
in the
1949–50 Challenge Cup Final during the
1949–50 season at
Wembley Stadium,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
on Saturday 6 May 1950 in front of a crowd of 94,249. Within four years at the Warrington club Bevan had surpassed the club's try scoring record of 215 set by
Jack Fish over thirteen seasons. He played in Warrington's 5–28 defeat by
Wigan in the
1950–51 Lancashire Cup Final during the
1950–51 season at Swinton on Saturday 4 November 1950.
He was the
1950–51 Northern Rugby Football League season's top try scorer.
Bevan played for the
British Empire XIII against
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
on Wednesday 23 January 1952 at
Stamford Bridge in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Bevan was the
1952–53 Northern Rugby Football League season's top try scorer. His best season for try scoring feats was in 1952–53 when he amassed a total of 72 tries. Only
Albert Rosenfeld has scored more tries in a single season in Britain. Rosenfeld holds the top two most tries in a season with 78 in 1911–12 and 80 in 1913–14.
Bevan played on the in the 8–4 victory over
Halifax in the
1953–54 Challenge Cup Final
replay at
Odsal,
Bradford
Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
on Wednesday 5 May 1954, in front of a record crowd of 102,575 or more.
He was the top try scorer of the
1953–54 Northern Rugby Football League season and also became the highest try scorer in the game's history when he passed the 446 tries mark set by
Alf Ellaby.
Bevan helped Warrington win the
1954–55 Northern Rugby Football League season's Championship.
He scored a
try in Warrington's 5–4 victory over
St. Helens in the
1959–60 Lancashire Cup Final during the
1959–60 season at
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
,
Wigan on Saturday 31 October 1959.
1960s
In 1961 Bevan returned to Australia to play for an Eastern Suburbs seven-a-side competition for
Keith Holman's testimonial.

Bevan played his last game for Warrington on
Easter Monday, 1962. In his career in Britain, Bevan scored a hat-trick of tries or more in a single game 100 times. Twice he scored seven tries in a game for Warrington, which is still a club record. During his sixteen-year career with Warrington he helped the club win the
Challenge Cup
The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...
twice, three RL Championships, a Lancashire Cup and six Lancashire League titles.
Bevan came out of semi-retirement to play for
Blackpool Borough between 1962 and 1964.
Bevan played most of his career in Britain, and was never selected to represent Australia in a test match, although he did mesmerise
Kangaroo touring sides with his guile and skill for almost two decades. In all he scored 796 tries in his career in Britain in competitive matches, a world record by a rugby player of either code). He scored 740 for Warrington, in 620 appearances (both club records).
Bevan’s international try scoring average with the crack Other Nationalities team was 1.625 tries per match - the highest ever in international rugby league.
Post-playing
In 1988 Brian Bevan was inducted into the
British Rugby League Hall of Fame.
The 'wing wizard', as he is commonly referred, died in
Southport
Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...
, England in June 1991, aged 67. Thousands turned up for his memorial service a month later which was held on the pitch at
Wilderspool which was at the time the home of Warrington.

Bevan was featured on a British stamp in 1995, one of a series of five to commemorate the centenary of Rugby League. In September, 2005 he was also inducted into the
Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame. He is the only player to have been so doubly honoured. A statue of him was erected in the middle of a roundabout close to Wilderspool Stadium, then moved to the club's new ground, the
Halliwell Jones Stadium, in 2004, which also includes a mural showing Bevan's face made from primrose and blue bricks, the traditional Warrington colours.
Bevan was also inducted into the Warrington Wolves Hall of Fame.
In 2004 Bevan's great nephew,
Paul Bevan started playing
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
in the
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
for the
Sydney Swans.
In February 2008, Bevan was named in a list of Australia's
''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the
National Rugby League and the
Australian Rugby League to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Bevan went on to be named as one of the wingers, along with
Ken Irvine, in Australian rugby league's ''
Team of the Century''. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players.
In June 2018, Bevan was named on a shortlist of ten players for potential induction into the NRL's
''The Immortals'', with two to be selected and announced in August of the same year. While the NRL made a surprise announcement that they were making five inductions rather than the planned two on the night, Bevan was not among those raised to Immortal status.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Brian Eyrl Bevan biography*
Brian Bevan at warringtonwolves.orgFrance defeated in ‘Battle of the Boulevard’Bev makes Warrington debutStatistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bevan, Brian
1924 births
1991 deaths
Australian rugby league players
Australian expatriate rugby league players in England
Blackpool Borough players
British Empire rugby league team players
Other Nationalities rugby league team players
Rugby League XIII players
Rugby league wingers
Rugby league players from Sydney
Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II
Sydney Roosters players
Warrington Wolves players
20th-century Australian sportsmen