Brydens Lawyers NSW Blues enforcer Reagan Campbell-Gillard showed a softer side to his personality ahead of the Panthers Round 1 NRL clash against the Eels, attending a World’s Greatest Shave event as the guest of honour as 10-year-old Northern Beaches local, Samantha Bishop, said farewell to her golden locks.
Having pledged a donation to Bishop’s cause via Instagram – a fundraiser originally set out to raise $500 before the tally eventually eclipsed $6,000 – Campbell-Gillard took his support beyond the hip pocket, taking hold of the clippers in front of Bishop’s nearest and dearest at Harbord Diggers club on Wednesday.
“I’ve never cut hair before, I don’t even like cutting my own!” Campbell-Gillard told nswrl.com.au, moments after shaving Samantha’s head bare.
“She’s embracing the new haircut… lucky there was a hairdresser in the building to tidy her up a bit.
“Obviously, you see a young girl like Sammy there wanting to shave her head for a great foundation… It’s a no-brainer to come out and to support her. I looked at (the post) and donated… she’s obviously very brave, there’s not many people even adults that would go ahead and do the shave.
“It shows the maturity of her at such a young age. She’s a very full-of-energy type of girl. She had everyone in the whole room laughing and she didn’t shed any tears. A very brave young girl.”
Campbell-Gillard was joined by Brydens Lawyers NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler and seven-time world champion surfer Layne Beachley at the shave event.
“'Freddy' doesn’t really have too much on his schedule, does he?” Campbell-Gillard quipped.
“It’s a great show of support from Freddy and Layne to give up their time and to let it be known that what Sammy’s doing means a lot of things to a lot of people. They’re here to obviously show their support, and I’m here to do the same thing.
“All of her friends and family are here to support her, it shows the courage she has to shave her hair to show her support for people in the room who have had cancer themselves… They’ve got through it well, words don’t really describe the braveness that she’s shown right now.”
Sporting his now-trademark moustache, ‘RCG’ inferred his ‘greatest shave’ won’t be happening before a ball is kicked in 2019.
“There was talk from a few people that wanted me to shave it off (on Wednesday night),” Campbell-Gillard says.
“But I’ll probably consider it, for maybe doing it next year.”
