800 Rugby Games And Still Going
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 recently. 
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.
Speaking to Bruce on the Daily Drive radio show this week, he was humble about his achievement. “When people say it’s amazing t must be. “Rugby was a different game back then, it was much harder – it must have gone soft because I’m still playing!”
Bruce started out as a “wirey winger” but says he has “thickened up a bit”. He has played the last last 20 years in the front row, the only position you can play he says and last this long.
Does he get sore? “Next day it feels like a truck has run over me, there are some big units on the field.
What reaction do you get from other players? “Some young blokes think look at this old bastard, we’ll get him.”
Bruce believes his record of 800 games for one club stands in Australia, the closest competitor was a bloke called Jimmy Williams who racked up 749 games for Drummoyne.
One of the reasons Bruce keeps playing is the club, he told us “the guys are like brothers and the club owns the ground which means club fees are minimal, only $100 a year to play.”
Bruce didn’t ever have aspirations to play for the Waratahs saying “those blokes are too big”.
He now plays prop which he says is the hardest position on the field “there’s pressure on your body with blokes coming up behind and trying to push your bum up over you head.”
Bruce’s nickname “crazy” comes from his lack of fear when it comes to tackling the biggest blokes on the field.
Now retired, Bruce trains every day and his training regime would exhaust a 20 year old!
- Monday 6km run
- Tuesday 4km walk
- Wednesday 20km bike ride
- Thursday 10km bike ride
- Friday 5km bike ride
Bruce plans to keep going as long as he still gets butterflies before the game… as he confidently told us “if you don’t use it you lose it..you’re a long time retirement”
