FOR more than 15 seasons with English club Warrington, he was a freak. Toothless, almost bald and with gaunt features, his skinny frame housed blinding speed. Brian Bevan, the Wing Wizard, was for many, the greatest rugby winger of all codes the world had ever seen.
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He had other nicknames like the Galloping Ghost, the Warrington Flash and the Bondi Streak, but none of these tags conveyed the elusive ball-carrying wizardry that followed him for almost 15 consecutive seasons in the top tier of the game.
Born in Paddington and educated at Randwick Boys High School, Sydney, Bevan started his senior career with Eastern Suburbs (Sydney Roosters) in 1942. He made seven appearances in first grade for the Tri-colours yet remarkably never scored a try on Australia soil throughout his career.
After Second World War service with the Royal Australian Navy, he travelled back to England and obtained a contract with Warrington after scoring four tries in a trial against Leeds. By the end of the 1947 season he had scored 48 tries and signed a five-year contract.
He was a phenomenal athlete who went on to establish and smash world records nearly every season. He could run 100 yards in 9.9 seconds and along with his famous swerve and sidestep, he created a British and world record by scoring 796 tries in 620 appearances for Warrington.
Standing 1.75 metres tall, his lightweight size of 78 kilos belied his extraordinary skill, as a lightning-paced ball-carrier. After just seven seasons, he had set a world rugby league try-scoring record, scoring an extraordinary 446 tries.
He created a British and world record by scoring 796 tries in 620 appearances for Warrington.
Amazingly, he scored three tries or more in a single game 100 times and twice he registered 10 tries in a game. Wearing the Warrington blue and gold colours, he was part of the side that won two Challenge Cups, three British RL premierships, a Lancashire Cup and six Lancashire championships and added three tries against New Zealand in 1952.
He was the master of the sidestep and swerve and was the only rugby league player in history to be inducted into both the British and the Australian Sports Halls of Fame.
Later, he was named on the wing, in Australia's rugby league Team of the Century, yet he never represented either Great Britain or Australia at Test level.
Although his outstanding and extraordinary achievements were rightly acknowledged, this amazing player, like many others, was not truly recognised until well after his death. The great Brian Bevan passed away in 1991, aged 67.
