He must be ‘Crazy’: Man, 65, plays 800th rugby game for Canterbury Berries

BRUCE ‘Crazy’ Leigh has played more games in the brutal sport of rugby than most can believe.

Berries and Harlequins players cheer Bruce Leigh onto the field for his 800th game. Picture: Daniel Aarons

BRUCE ‘Crazy’ Leigh has played more games in the brutal sport of rugby than most can believe.

The energetic 65-year-old notched up his 800th game with the Canterbury Berries today. The club believes his big number is unheard of for a single club in any contact sport in Australia or possibly even the world.

As a 21-year-old, Leigh was a winger when he first laced up his boots for the Berries in 1973. He has played in every season since.

“I never started playing rugby to break any records,” Leigh, of Heckenberg, said.

“When I was 21, if someone had told me I was going to play 800 games I’d say ‘yeah, right. I don’t think so’.”

Leigh gets involved in a ruck. Picture: Daniel Aarons

Leigh takes the ball across field. Picture: Daniel Aarons

As he got older, he moved to prop, allowing him to play at a slower pace. Although that meant colliding with heavier players more often, Leigh said he never minded that.

“I’ve never worried about tackling bigger blokes,” he said. “My nickname’s ‘Crazy’ because I used to go out onto the field and just tackle the biggest bloke as hard as I possibly could.”

His accomplishment may be a world record for a single club. Picture: Daniel Aarons

Over his 44 years of playing rugby for Canterbury, Leigh said the game had gotten “much softer” but he still enjoyed it. He said as long as his passion for rugby remained, he would continue to run out onto the field.

“In the dressing sheds just before the game I started getting butterflies in my stomach,” he said. “I always said I’ll keep playing until that goes away.”

Leigh said he never considered moving on from Canterbury as his fellow players and the club quickly became like family.

“Once I put the jersey on, these guys are my brothers,” he said.

Leigh helped his team pick up a 26-0 win over the Sydney Harlequins.