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Hair raising contributes a healthy dividend
DAVE HUGHES
8 May 2008
Eight cents.
That’s the value of each chestnut hair that piled up on the surface of Subiaco Oval last Saturday night as the clippers denuded Western Force forward David Pusey of his hair and beard.
It doesn’t seem a lot by itself but, with an unshaven man having about 120,000 follicles on his head and a further 80,000 around his jaw line, it added up in Pusey’s case to an $18,000 cheque heading the way of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.
The veteran lock had committed to shaving his hair and beard if $10,000 was raised for the charity after a close relative was diagnosed and treated for the condition.
Pusey had avoided the barber for nearly two years, and a razor blade for nine months, to develop the caveman look. Although he reached his collecting goal before the kick-off to last Saturday’s match against the Chiefs, through a tin-rattle and sale of T-shirts outside the ground, a further $6000 was promised during a pre-game function in the Chairman’s Lounge.
A syndicate of guests agreed to donate the figure if Prostate Cancer Foundation chairman Jim Freemantle also shaved his head.
After the match, both Pusey and Freemantle submitted themselves to the shears and what was regarded as the least attractive beard in world rugby was mercifully eradicated.
Pusey, who will reach 50 Super caps if he plays in the last two games of the season, was as delighted to raise nearly double his target amount as he was to be able to show his face again.
“I’d like to thank everyone who showed their support,” he said. “I’m also relieved to be feeling a lot lighter without the long hair and the beard.”