As Queensland Reds prop Ben Daley prepares to put his head on the line to protect new flyhalf Karmichael Hunt, his headgear will be trying to right the wrongs of a tumultuous 12 months in Australian rugby.
Tired of watching rugby’s name dragged through the mud, Daley has resolved to turn his skull into a billboard for charity.
The 26-year-old has launched the ‘Be Great. Do Good’ campaign – his own personal response to the controversies that have brought the game he loves into disrepute over the last 12 months.
Daley will wear one-off, custom-designed headgear each week this year to raise awareness for a different charitable cause during each round of Super Rugby.
“It’s no secret that the sport of rugby, and by extension the players, had their integrity take a hit,” Daley said.
“There was a lot of criticism about the code last year and as a player it was disappointing to see that play out.
“I just wanted to get back to the reason why we love the game so much – because we grew up having these heroes who had all these core values.”
As the Reds get their campaign underway on Friday night in Canberra, Daley will be supporting HeartKids Australia, a charity dedicated to providing support to families of children with heart disease.
Meanwhile, Daley will be lending his own support to Hunt, who is likely to find himself lined up by returning Brumbies star David Pocock in his return from a long-term knee injury.
Hunt is odds-on to retain the No.10 jersey after an encouraging performance in last week’s trial win over the Crusaders.
That performance was only made possible by the Reds’ pack, which eked out enough space for the code-hopper to exploit in the 35-12 victory.
“The 7’s goal is to take out the 10, really – to disrupt the 10 and put him off his game,” Daley said.
“It’s up to the forwards to make sure he’s not getting anywhere near our 10.
“It’s the old story that the forwards need to lay the platform and the backs can flourish.
“We felt we did that.
“You saw from the result we were able to get a lot of backline movement, and that was great.
“That doesn’t change.”
