In a sad year for rugby league, the game has lost another former great in former Kangaroo five-eighth Tim Pickup.<\/p>\n
Pickup, a star with Norths and Canterbury in the 1970s, had been suffering for dementia for several years. He was 72.<\/p>\n
A star rugby union player early in his career, he played for four seasons with Manly before shifting to league.<\/p>\n
After a season in England with the famous St Helens club, he returned to Sydney and was inundated with offers, joining the North Sydney Bears in 1972 after a bidding war for his services.<\/p>\n
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He played for both NSW and Australia in his debut season and had three years with the struggling Bears before joining the Bulldogs in 1975.<\/p>\n
Pickup played five seasons with the Bulldogs before retiring in 1979.<\/p>\n
After football, he became heavily involved in boxing and managed Jeff Harding when he won the WBC World Light-Heavyweight Title in 1989.<\/p>\n
In 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for services to sport.<\/p>\n
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