Family ties that bind Australia’s sevens heroines

It’s common enough to find siblings throughout the history of international sevens. From Thiels and Vais, to Plas and Costas and, of course, the outstanding pair of Levis, team-mates have in many cases also been family. 

But, as well as the sisters Maddison and Teagan, Australia’s women boast another family connection – which has ties to a cult hero of the All Blacks. 

Sariah Paki, Faith Nathan and Kiiahla Duff are first cousins. Their mums Te Aroha, Edith and Gloria are sisters – three of seven siblings – in a close-knit family with links to New Zealand and the Cook Islands. 

When she plays, Duff, the youngest of the trio, actually wears the surnames of both her parents on the back of her shirt – Berryman-Duff – which hints to another member of the family who did astonishing things on the rugby field. 

The late Norman Berryman was a first cousin of their mothers. One of the most charismatic figures in rugby through the late-90s and early 2000s, Berryman played one test for the All Blacks, multiple matches for the Maori All Blacks, over 100 games for Northland and won three Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders, as well as spending three years in France playing for Castres Olympique and Bourgoin-Jallieu. 

Berryman was hugely popular among fans and peers, as evidenced by the thousands who turned out for his funeral when he died suddenly aged 42 in 2015

Nathan, Paki and Duff are all too young to have ever seen him play, but the former said his exploits are the stuff of family legend. 

“Our parents still talk about him to this day,” she said. “How much of a legend he was in the game, how amazing he was as a person. Our men’s team coach Liam Barry, a former All Black, also talks about how much a legend he was, so his legacy still lives on.”

In their fast, physical styles there’s a little bit of Berryman in each of them. All three had a similar path into rugby via touch football, and both Paki and Nathan played extensively with sevens team-mate Madison Ashby, who’s currently rehabbing a knee injury. 

Paki, who remains Australia’s youngest ever world series debutant at 17, was the first to make the switch. Paki and Nathan have played nearly all their age-grade touch and sevens with Ashby, while Duff, just 21 and having made her debut in Dubai, is thrilled to have followed in her slightly older cousins footsteps this season.

Family is at the heart of everything. Growing up on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the extended family regularly got together for family dinners on a Sunday, which has now become a catch-up at the local, while Mondays are reserved for regular touch games. 

With 40 or so first cousins, getting a team, or six, together is rarely an issue – but having such a large group of relatives can cause problems when it comes to sourcing tickets for HSBC SVNS tournaments.

“We get in trouble, especially at the Perth SVNS. I just tell them they have to get their own now” she laughed. 

While Duff, known as Lala among her cousins and team-mates, cites Nathan as the team-mate she’d least like to be stuck on a desert island with, and Nathan once admitted to secretly using Paki’s toothbrush on tour, there’s an easiness to the relationship between the three of them, often finishing each other’s sentences as they recount moments from their childhood and careers. 

You also get the sense they’re immensely proud of what each as achieved.

Duff saw Paki make her debut in Dubai in 2019, and said: “We were so excited and just so, so proud. We all had these “Big Girl” shirts made because that’s what everyone calls her – and it was pretty cool for me, being so young seeing my big cousin on TV.”

Duff has played every tournament so far this season and Nathan says it’s a thrill to see how far she’s come. 

“Lala’s gone the hard way to sevens. Because she’s always been so sporty, she had a lot of sports to juggle growing up so for her to focus on sevens is and play in the jersey really is honestly amazing.”

Both Paki and Duff laugh at the fact their middle cousin didn’t like contact at all given she’s now a ‘physical bully’. But Paki admires the player Nathan’s become. 

“It's been amazing to watch her grow into the athlete she is today. She’s come such a long way from the skinny schoolgirl she used to be when she started, but she’s actually an inspiration to young athletes coming through.”

The entire Australian team is tight knit, but Paki says competing alongside family at the highest level makes it extra special. 

“It means a lot. Like you have the mental side and the physical side: physically, you can handle it by yourself, but mentally, it's amazing having your family on tour. They can help you get through whatever you need, which is really nice to have.”

While this weekend in Hong Kong will be quieter on the ticketing front for the cousins, with only Nathan’s immediate family heading over – in part to celebrate a ‘milestone’ birthday for her mum – the trio are preparing for a huge weekend. 

Paki returns to the squad after missing the last two tournaments with injury, while Nathan will have a critical place in the youngest Australian side ever fielded. Duff, too, could expect a more prominent role as she’s been learning her trade over the past few months. 

Australia heads into the weekend six points behind New Zealand in the overall standings with the two great rivals each having won two tournaments this season. 

With that league title decider looming and the Grand Final just over a month away, the mental pressure Paki alludes to is ramping up. 

Regardless of the on-field outcomes, the family ties that bind the Australia’s Sevens together will remain an unbreakable bond.