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Very sad. Will be remembered at Kalamunda and Wanneroo and the WA rugby community
Norman Berryman dies of heart attack
The one-test All Black, Northland rugby stalwart and three-time Super 12 champion with the Crusaders died overnight Monday, aged 42.
Berryman moved to Australia about 11 years ago, first settling in Sydney for about three years, before heading to Western Australia. He was a father of six - twin daughters, Cairo and Kaya, Terrell, Tatiana, Laytarjae and Shyah.
In Perth, Berryman was originally involved with the Kalamunda club. He later coached at the Wanneroo Rugby Club, up until last season.
Northland Rugby chief executive Jeremy Parkinson said Berryman epitomised everything which the union tried to provide and was a real character of the game, a "cult and folk hero".
"He showed you can grow up anywhere and make it into the All Blacks.
"He was a little bit different, he never used to warm up with the team, he'd just stand around and have a chuckle and then roll out with the team.
"He was a shining light in that if you're talented and you persevere you can succeed. He was hugely popular up here."
He was not always the most popular player though, infamously quitting an All Blacks' training camp in Auckland and hitch-hiking back to Whangarei from Auckland.
John Hart, who was All Blacks coach at the time, and Berryman, did not see eye-to-eye and the strapping wing/centre said Hart "projected negativity".
"That's 100 per cent bang on. It was an interesting time ... but that wasn't even the fun bit. That was getting home and wearing it from my mother," he said in a later interview.
"Boy, if you'd had your recorder on then, bud, you would've made some money."
Berryman played his one test as a replacement against the Springboks in 1998. He won Super 12 titles with the Crusaders from 1998-2000Berryman, as opposed to most high-profile rugby players, was a relatively late-starter in the sport.
The Wellington-born Berryman lived in Island Bay for seven years before moving to Whangarei.
"Wellington will always have a place in my heart, but I've a lot of time for the far north. They really look after you in Whangarei," he told The Press in 1998.
Berryman's father played rugby league in Wellington and the junior Berryman remembers tagging along with his father to training when he was only 3-years-old.
"'I was into heaps of sports before rugby. My first sport at primary school was soccer and I played league on Sunday," he said.
"I started in rugby when I went to Whangarei Intermediate. My mates were playing rugby so I decided to give it a go. I played rugby on Saturday and league on Sunday and the during the week I'd play basketball, cricket, or soccer."
The sports-loving and fun-seeking Berryman said he only took rugby seriously when it went professional. Until then, he even enjoyed trainings and the "'odd beer or two" which came at the end of them.
With professional rugby came the stricter training and personal disciplines. Berryman, not an avid trainer, accepted those responsibilities knowing rugby was his livelihood.
"In some ways I don't know whether we're better off or worse, but to get paid to play is pretty cool."
The All Blacks have expressed their condolencies on Twitter.
"Thoughts are with Berryman whanau following passing of "Stormin" Norman," the All Blacks wrote.
Former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga also offered sympathies on Twitter: "If it's true about Normy B then it's another sad day! Heart goes out to his whanau! #gonetosoon."