Steve Devine

Steve Devine was a feisty halfback who for nearly a decade was good value for Auckland and the Blues and whose brief stint in the All Blacks in 2002-03 was a throwback to the great Des Connor in the early 1960s.

Like Connor, Devine was an Australian hailing from the country districts of New South Wales. The parallel with Connor goes further for Devine was also educated at one of Australia�s most celebrated Marist Brothers schools. Connor went to Ashgrove in Brisbane, where John Eales was also schooled, and Devine went to a great nursery, St Joseph�s in Sydney.

While Connor came to New Zealand in 1960, already capped as a Wallaby, Devine was a relative unknown when he crossed the Tasman to improve his rugby chances. He made the Australian colts side in 1997 and the national sevens side in 1998 and it was this participation which created problems when Devine was chosen, somewhat surprisingly, for the 2002 All Blacks� end-of-season tests against England, Wales and France.

It took an International Board clearance for Devine to be able to take his place. First choice players Justin Marshall and Byron Kelleher were rested and Devine shared the halfback position with Danny Lee, starting in the tests against England and Wales.

The oddity to Devine�s selection in 2002 was that it caused a rushed reshuffle to the Blues squad for the 2003 season. Initially, North Harbour All Black Mark Robinson had been chosen, and with Devine suddenly gaining national honours, the unlucky Robinson found himself without a franchise, a situation which was handled clumsily by the game�s administration.

Devine shared another similarity with Connor for most of his club rugby was with Marist in Auckland. Devine never quite reached the heights of Connor, who has been judged one of the best to have ever played at halfback for New Zealand, but he was a competent footballer who deserved his international recognition.

He first represented Auckland in 1998 and for the Blues in the Super 12 in 1999, and while injuries often plagued him he finished with 78 first class matches for Auckland and 70 for the Blues, playing in the winning NPC side in both 1999 and 2002 and was in the Blues side which won the 2003 Super 12, though injury prevented him playing the final against the Crusaders.

Devine appeared in five of the domestic tests in 2003 and was taken to the World Cup in Australia later in the year as the third string halfback behind Marshall and Kelleher. He made three appearances in the tournament, including the third-fourth playoff against France.

That ended Devine�s All Black involvement, though he remained, whenever he was free from injury, a regular first choice for the Auckland and the Blues. His national representation ended with two games for the Junior All Blacks in 2005.

Injuries, especially concussion, finally took their toll and, apart from one early match, he missed all of Auckland�s 2007 Air New Zealand Cup campaign. When he retired near the season�s end his Auckland coach Pat Lam praised him without qualification: �Stevie is a real fighter. Whatever he is doing, he gives 100% every time and has set that standard for everybody in our squad.�