tackles -- the flippant, raunchy and reckless rugby player known almost as much for celebrated post-game victory parties with the appropriate liquid flourishes, seemed lost for a moment in some secret chamber.

Gary Osborne can be excused if he was more quiet -- if that is possible -- than usual yesterday. Osborne, who chooses words like a miser counts his money, took eight years of Bermuda memories with him aboard a flight destined for the US, the first step of a six-week sojourn, which will eventually take him and his pretty wife Susan to their new home in Perth, Austrialia.

Chances are he was thinking about all those weekends of no-mercy, in-your-face rugby, the national team tours to places like Montreal, Hong Kong and Dallas, and Police players he would love to play with forever. Individuals like Tim Guilfoil, Mark James, Bummer Harris, Mike Deevey, Alan Gorbutt, Andy Pell, Sean Field, Norm Wilson and others he had trouble naming because he was too occupied fighting back tears.

But Osborne was also planning future rugby games. Never far from his field of dreams -- a rugby pitch -- he already has a game lined up in Connecticut for Saturday. This should not be surprising since Osborne played rugby the day before getting married as his wife-to-be watched in horror, afraid his body or face would be too beaten up to get to the church on time.

One certainty was Osborne's willingness to arrive every Sunday to play rugby, and his tenacious ability to shoot past opponents like gunfire, even after a spate of grim sunrises before he throttled down those post-game beer bashes -- rugby's cultural bauble -- after meeting Susan.

"I can say plenty of things about him, but none of them are printable,'' team-mate and co-worker Alan Oliver said, laughing. "He was always the first one to buy a beer after a game.

"But, seriously, he sums up the way Police have played in recent years.'' Team-mate Gareth Davies believes last Sunday's dramatic 17-14 come-from-behind victory over Teachers is typical of the way Osborne played the game during his eight years in Bermuda.

"He never gave up, he was always there when you really needed him,'' said Davies, a team-mate during the past four years. "He wasn't in the limelight like other players. He was under-rated, too, because his strong defensive game rarely got noticed. His good rugby smarts are most impressive. He knows the game inside and out.

"It didn't really sink in that it was his last game. Before the game we dedicated it to him.'' "We'll miss him more than we'll miss anyone else,'' added Oliver. "We'll miss his versatilty, his dependability.'' Osborne brought the same unbounded energy to police work as he did to rugby or boxing, another sport he was involved with in Bermuda, and his work assignments were confined to marine or traffic units.

Bermuda police work was a welcome change from the mean streets of East Belfast where Osborne's first job was patrolling the Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods where, "the hatred these people had for each other couldn't be sorted out without violence.'' It was a grim New Year's night when he learned of the death of fellow Royal Ulster Constabulary officer Drew McCandless, blown to pieces by a bomb and the moment he knew moving to Bermuda was the right thing to do.

That kind of violence was typical of his daily routine, and he was often forced to dive into the back seat of his bullet-proof Land Rover to escape unfriendly fire.

Rugby served as the perfect escape from the grime and grit of Northern Irish police life. But it was a sport he was not exactly devoted to when he began playing in grammar school.

"I was always sneaking off to play soccer,'' he said. "But, unfortunately, the rugby pitch was right next to the soccer pitch. After getting caught I was forced to spend a week in confinement after school.'' Osborne spent every night thinking about how much he hated rugby. What kept him involved in the game was Irish rugby captain Willie Anderson taking him under his wing, showing him, "how interesting the game could be.'' Only then did he begin to clasp the sport to his heart.

His decision to move to Bermuda in 1985 was impulsive -- "it felt right'' -- and rugby helped him to adapt to the country's rhythm.

Osborne instantly became one of Police team's best and most popular players and was selected to represent Bermuda on four national team squads. He describes the 10s tournament in Hong Kong in 1991 as his greatest achievement but sags with a look of glum resignation when remembering a game against Trinidad in 1990 when, in the last moments of the game, he ignored a four-man overlap and tried to score the try himself, but was tackled. If he had passed the ball Bermuda was in a position to win the game. Team-mates still rib him about it, good-naturedly, of course, to this day.

"I let myself down and I let my team down,'' Osborne said, sipping coffee and wearing loose sweatpants that draped his banged-up knees.

"We didn't let him forget it,'' said Brian Toms, a former national squad team-mate who played in that match. "It wasn't a joke at the time. I can still see him running with the ball and four of us within 10 yards of a score.

Basically we lost the game because he went on his own and was tackled.'' His poor judgement can be traced to a night of merriment hours before and these days he has recast himself, seeking more structure in his life with Susan.

Osborne keeps himself in shape by running and lifting weights. His 185-pound frame gets a further work-out on the golf course, an unlikely sport from the grizzly world of rugby and boxing. Osborne takes his cue to keep in shape from his father, an upholsterer in East Belfast who was once runner-up for Mr.

Ireland.

Working out also allows him to maintain his creativity on the pitch, staying ahead of the competition, always wanting the upper hand even though he is 30 now at an age of encroaching sports mortality, an inch off the jump, the loss of a step or two.

"I can see the end mainly because of the recovery time now after injuries,'' he said, leaking a smile. "Plus other players can read you better, know what your next move will be.'' Osborne was presented with a plaque at a party last Saturday at the Police Club for his contribution to rugby and boxing.

"It is the end of an era in a great way,'' said Oliver. "Gary was the last of the characters on Police, following in the footsteps of players like Andy Boomer and Wally Lumb, two other Irishmen. He was a very likeable rogue.'' "He is from the old rugby school,'' said Davies. "He looks at rugby as a social game. He likes the camaraderie of the game.'' Osborne is looking towards a career beyond police work and plans to be an accountant in Australia, continuing courses in business he began at Bermuda College.

If he has one message for fellow `rugby rowdies' in Bermuda, it is his wish to see coaching improve. "Try to watch international games on TV.'' "Bermuda is such a beautiful island with great people. It also allowed me to make contact with so many people...I now have addresses of people from all over the world.'' Having cemented loyalties, Osborne hopes to return to Bermuda some day. "I'm sure I'll be back,'' he whispered, wiping a tear from his left eye. "Made too many friends not to come back.'' GARY OSBORNE -- Gone after eight years in Bermuda.