Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Full Name
- Brian Eyrl Bevan
- Born
- Tuesday, 24th June, 1924
- Died
- Monday, 3rd June, 1991 (Aged 66 years and 343 days)
- Place Of Birth
- Waverley, New South Wales, Australia
Awards & Accolades
Known Family Links
- Father
- Rick Bevan
Biography
While Brian Bevan played only a handful of games for Easts (ironically, failing to score a try), the spindly winger became a legend in English Club football. He mesmerised Australian touring sides with his guile and skill for almost two decades. Bevan left Easts to serve in the Navy during the war and arrived in England aboard HMAS Australia in 1946. Armed with a letter of recommendation from former Easts' Test winger Bill Shankland, sought a trial with Leeds but the club refused to sign the frail-looking winger. Snapped up by Warrington, he scored 44 tries in his first season. Bevan went on to play 18 seasons in England with Warrington (1946-62) and Blackpool Borough (1962-64), and established many long-standing records. Incredibly, he scored 834 tries during his twenty-year career (695 games and numerous Cup matches). In 1961, he returned to Australia to play for Easts in a seven-a-side tournament for Keith Holman’s testimonial. (He briefly returned to Australia in the 1960s as captain-coach of Goondawindi!). Rated as the greatest winger English club football has seen, the ‘wing wizard’ of rugby league died in England in 1991, age 66.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Additional Notes
Served in the Second World War as a Stoker for the Royal Australian Navy.
Playing Career Statistics
All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.
To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.
Competitions | ||||||||||||||
| Competition | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL | 7 | - | 1 | - | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 57.14% | List | ||||
| NRL Finals | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| European Championship | 16 | 26 | - | - | 78 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 75.00% | List | ||||
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Test Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Other | 1949-53, 1955 | 16 | 26 | - | - | 78 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 75.00% | List | |||
International Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Australasia | 1951 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
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NRL/NSWRL - By Year | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1942 | 6 | - | 1 | - | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 50.00% | List | |||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1946 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
NRL/NSWRL - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Eastern Suburbs | 1942, 1946 | 7 | - | 1 | - | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 57.14% | List | |||
Contributions:
Alan Katzmann, Shawn Dollin, Greg Fiveash, Rugby League Tables, Max Turner, Andrew Ferguson
Your Say
01/05/2012
Ungainly in appearance, Brian Bevan was the stuff of legends - unable to hold down a top grade position in Eastern Suburbs (no tries in 8 1st-grade games!). Yet in England, he transformed himself with metronomic efficiency into the greatest try-scoring machine in RL history in a very long career.
22/01/2021
Born January 24, 1924. Not June 24.
07/12/2023
Born January 24 1924. Not June 24.
24/01/2024
Happy 100th Brian you legend!!!
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