De Vere won the 1997 Brisbane Broncos season's rookie of the year award and also played in their Super League Grand Final win over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

In 1998 De Vere, a last-minute inclusion to the side due to a finger injury to former Kangaroo Tour winger Michael Hancock, scored the opening try in Brisbane's 38–12 1998 NRL grand final win against the Canterbury Bulldogs.

Later that season he joined the ranks of Brisbane players (Terry Matterson, Glenn Lazarus, Luke Priddis and Chris Johns) to have represented New South Wales against his Broncos teammates in a State of Origin match.

In the 2003 State of Origin series, an incident occurred in game one when De Vere suffered a head wound after a clash with Queensland's Tonie Carroll.

[citation needed] The following season at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included De Vere.

The National Rugby League had to approved De Vere's comeback due to concerns over salary cap concessions, given he also worked as a development officer.