Name Bill Devine | ||
Wild bill devine immokalee regional raceway
William Walter "Bill" Devine (c. 1893 – 1956) was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented his country.
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Playing career
Devine originally played rugby union for the Marist Old Boys club in Canterbury. However, Marist Old Boys were expelled from the Canterbury Rugby Union in April 1924 after they forfeited a Payne Cup fixture in 1923 due to a row over the eligibility of three players. They instead joined the Canterbury Rugby League and Devine followed, converting to rugby league.
In his first season he was one of six Marist players who were selected for New Zealand.
He left the club in 1925, playing for South Canterbury against Canterbury B. He was then selected on the controversial 1926-1927 New Zealand tour of Great Britain. The tour involved several skirmishes within the Kiwi party. Problems began on the boat journey over, with disputes developing about aspects of the trip and a rift developed between tour manager and coach, Australian Ernest Mair, and seven forwards, including Devine. The disputes continued once the party arrived in Britain. In mid-November, following further disturbances which almost led to the tour party being evicted from their Harrogate hotel, it was decided that coach Mair would withdraw from team selection and match tactics for a period of four weeks. The tour, and the costly disputes, continued with the rebels eventually setting sail for home a week earlier than their colleagues.
Three months later all seven players were banned for life by the New Zealand Rugby League, ending Devine's rugby career.