New chapter for Wales rugby ace Devereux, after making a splash in both codes
AS THE signal drops out of the phone call to John Devereux, the man sat next to him in the car – Wales Rugby League president Mike Nicholas – endeavours to offer up an explanation.
“It’s not the signal, it’s G-force,” jokes Nicholas. “We’re heading down the M5. He’s a renowned F1 driver, the one driving!”
“He doesn’t want to write that, Mike,” interjects Devereux.
Nicholas comes back, responding: “I’m just explaining!”
It’s an exchange typical of the 40-minute conversation with the former dual-code Wales international, with Nicholas always on hand to add a little extra to the discussion.
At times, he’s finishing Devereux’s sentences, while on other occasions, it’s just adding a little bit of enthusiasm.
As Devereux runs through an illustrious list of team-mates, Nicholas just responds to each with a short assessment. “Good player, good player... great player.”
The reason the pair are travelling down the M5 back towards Wales is that Devereux had just launched his new book – Double Dragon, Double Lion – the night before in Widnes.
“It was a fantastic night,” chimes in Nicholas.
“You had Mike and Big Jim Mills talking about by-gone days and the battles they used to have,” adds Devereux. “I think they were sent off 38 times between them.”
“We definitely made our presence felt up here,” is the understated response by Nicholas, before Devereux continues: “I couldn’t have dreamt it going any better. The one in Bridgend, we’ve had to move into a bigger room as we’ve got some former players coming.”
Right now, that’s a large part of
Devereux’s day-to-day life, promoting the new book.
Following Tuesday night’s event in Bridgend, there are others taking place in Caernarfon, Neath and Ebbw Vale.
Of course, it’s not the only thing the former Wales centre is up to these days.
“I live in Bridgend with my wife,” he says. “My two daughters are now grown up. My wife teaches kids with learning difficulties and I work in the pharmaceutical industry.
“I’m a drug dealer, now. That’s how I introduce myself generally on the afterdinner circuit. I’m selling good drugs, not bad ones.
“I’ve worked in that industry for 22 years, with some big companies. I’m 57 now and I’ve got a few more years of working in that hopefully.
“I’m just enjoying seeing my grandchildren growing up. I’ve got my first one now and he’s the first boy in the family. Obviously I had two daughters so it’s nice to have a little boy in the family.
“His dad is 6ft 5in and if he gets his grandfather’s fast-twitch fibres and his dad’s size, look out in 20 years’ time because Wales will have some player! We’ll keep his eyes open when it comes to union or league!”
His grandson, and the ability to share his story, is part of the reason behind the book. Going back over his lengthy career has been a long, but enjoyable, experience that Devereux has wanted to tackle for some time.
“You play for Wales and you progress in your career,” he adds. “I suppose at the end of it, if it’s been a successful one, the natural progression is to write a book.
“I’ve read many of my idols’ books. It was something I always wanted to do, but it never happened after I finished playing. It’s my life and it’s my career, from the beginning.
“Starting from growing up and playing in schools and youth rugby, my association with Bridgend, Cardiff College where it all started - the game against Cardiff in the Schweppes Cup that put my name in lights. Everybody was talking about me from that day forward, who was that boy playing college rugby who had destroyed Bob Ackerman in the cup?
“From there, playing for Wales, all the tours I’ve gone on and playing for the Lions and at a World Cup – coming third. I would spend some time going through old diaries.
“Without them, I’d have found it hard to recollect some of the stories.
“But it’s amazing when you get together with the boys and start reminiscing, the stories come flooding back. I’d find myself making notes from those conversations.
“I always had my camera with me on tour as well so I’ve got great photos.
“Obviously going to rugby league is the other part of the book and that’s part of the uniqueness of it.
“I’m in a exclusive band of players who played for Wales and the Lions in both codes. I think there’s only been seven others to do that.
“That’s where the title – Double Dragon, Double Lion – comes from. It’s been a long career and a fabulous one. Some people say a good career is measured by trophies and championships, but I don’t believe that’s true.
“It’s great if you can win things, but the whole rollercoaster ride was brilliant. To have it for my grandchildren to have, for posterity, is great. A legacy for them. My daughter just had a son, my first grandchild, so it’ll be brilliant for him to read the book one day.
“He’ll know a hell of a lot about his grandfather than I knew about mine.”
There are plenty of tales for Devereux’s grandchild to discover, from how he learned of his first Wales call-up to his efforts to grow rugby league in Wales on his return to his homeland.
There’s an element of Devereux not being able to stop himself going off on tangents, breaking into another anecdote, but also being wary that he doesn’t want to spoil too much of the book’s contents.
“It’s all in the book,” he says after one tale. “I kept saying that at the launch. I don’t want to give too much away!
“I’ve tried to make the book enjoyable and funny. There’s a lot of characters I toured with. You maybe don’t get that in the modern game, with mobile phones and social media.
“We had such a laugh when I played. I loved the era I played in.
“It was enjoyable. I was a player who gave 100 per cent and that’s what I prided myself on. I never coasted.”
Nowadays, Devereux finds himself not watching rugby all that much. He enjoyed the recent World Cup, citing the quarter-finals as an example of how the game can be played at “that level and intensity”.
But it’s Australian rugby league that he sees as the best version of rugby.
That, and his beloved Liverpool, are what he enjoys best. Although, the Reds will always play second fiddle to a Welsh international.
“Who’s to say what rugby will be like in 20 years’ time,” admits Devereux, as talk turns to the current game.
“Will there be rugby in 20 years’ time, with everything going on with head-high tackles right now?
“I find it hard to watch, personally. It’s all about money. Who would have thought those English clubs would have gone bust? I wasn’t a great fan of regions. If we could have stayed with clubs, it would have been great.
“The politics of that, I try to stay away from. As ex-players, we just want to see great rugby and see the game flourish. If I was playing in today’s game, I think I’d struggle to stay on the park.
“I’d be with Mike and Jim, off the field a lot. I was a very up-right tackler and I’d swallow players, so to speak.
“My hand-off, ‘the Dalek’ as it was called back in the day, would have me sent off, too. From that point of view, it’s frustrating as it’s a physical, contact sport. You see all these players colliding because the game is at such speed and it’s accidental.
“It’s not a slow-motion game.
“Some of the challenges are stupid, but I’d find it hard to stay on. I’d play one, be banned for the next and so on. I’d probably play half a season!
“I love the game. I love all sports. I’m a massive Liverpool fan. I maybe watch Liverpool as a priority over watching rugby. I wouldn’t watch them over Wales, though.
“Wales have done a fabulous job competing over the years, but unfortunately it’s papered over the cracks. The game below is teetering on an edge.
“I do after-dinner speaking and all I see is clubs losing second XVs and youth teams. That’s the lifeblood.
“If you haven’t got that, how will you bring players through? I just want to see more people playing rugby.”
Fittingly, the final word goes to Nicholas, rather than Devereux, when the time comes to put the phone down.
“Good interview boys, I enjoyed it.”