Norm Berryman

[shiznit]

Passed away apparent of a heart attack at 42.

Far too young.

Being a proud Northlander i was pretty shattered this morning when I heard.

He only played 1 test for the All Blacks but Norm is without a doubt a Taniwha legend.

Moe mai ra e Norm... Moe mai ra...

R.I.P Brother...

Arohanui ki to Whanau.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Shit, that's terrible news. Wasn't really an international quality player but a total cult hero in Northland. Only 2 years older than me too. Had he got fat since he hung the boots up? I remember he was always a big unit.

Edit: I see he was still coaching and played a charity match a few weeks ago so he was still probably in decent nick. Bloody hell.

 

[shiznit]

He was definitely international standard... He would have strolled in to most international teams in the late 90's early 00's.

He should really have strolled in to the All Blacks but never did due to a mixture of outstanding outside backs infront of him and falling out with John Hart who was the All Blacks coach at the time.

He was always a burley type of bloke but the last I heard he actually lost a fair bit of weight and was smaller than he was when he played.

 

[shiznit]

Here's a nice video sky did for him:
http://youtu.be/5yrSdVMVbhA

 

[Warrior@Heart]

He was living over here in Perth. Quite heavily involved with our rugby club, but to be honest every time I saw him he was either blazed or offering out swigs of his rum so not exactly preserving his health. He was still very active though, not sure if he was still playing club rugby but he played touch for the over 40's and I heard he had just returned from playing in the Jerry Collins memorial match over in France. But definitely a Taniwha legend and well known community man over here in Perth as well.

 

[Desert Qlder]

Wasn't he tagged as the next Lomu at some point?

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Wasn't he tagged as the next Lomu at some point?

Bit of an exaggeration if he was. Was a big, solid guy with a surprising turn of pace though.

 

[shiznit]

Wasn't he tagged as the next Lomu at some point?

That's the first time I've heard that one... :lol:

Berryman was older than Lomu.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

That's the first time I've heard that one... :lol:

Berryman was older than Lomu.

Yeah you're right actually, Lomu is almost exactly my age. Norm was a late starter though, while Jonah was a teen prodigy.

 

[shiznit]

Yeah you're right actually, Lomu is almost exactly my age. Norm was a late starter though, while Jonah was a teen prodigy.

Berryman was never considered the next Lomu because he was a prodigy before Jonah came along.

He was already playing for Northland as a teenager in 1991... Was invited to the All Blacks trial as a 19yr old in 1992.

Jonah didn't hit the headlines until the Hong Kong 7's in 1994.

 

[Desert Qlder]

That's the first time I've heard that one... :lol:

Berryman was older than Lomu.

That's okay, my memory is probably just playing tricks on me. I'm not exactly a studious follower of NZ Union.