AFL hub haircuts: Players have been let loose with clippers - here are the results
Away from home and their usual barbers, AFL players have taken matters into their own hands. And the results have been ... interesting. See the strangest and most out-there covid hairstyles.
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Living in a footy hub can be challenging.
AFL players have moved away from home to keep the season going, away from their usual comforts and friends. And barbers.
It seems some players had the foresight to put clippers in their suitcase, so the likes of Dustin Martin and Demon Christian Salem have become their team’s designated stylist.
“It actually started on last year’s pre-season camp, because a couple of boys needed a cut,” Salem told the Herald Sun in July.
SCROLL DOWN FOR A GALLERY OF HUB HAIRCUT HORRORS
“And I had clippers with me, and I said, ‘Let me give you one’. I told them I knew how to do it, but I’d never cut anyone’s hair in my life. Not even my own. But it actually came out all right.
“Then on most interstate trips, I was cutting Clarry’s (Oliver) hair and a few other boys. The cuts aren’t too great, but that’s what they ask for, so can’t really complain.
“It’s something to do, so it’s kept me busy. I’ve done a couple of boys up here, and some staff as well. At least that’s keeping me somewhat busy.”
Bulldogs ruckman Tim English wishes he could get a trim, but he’s too scared.
“Laitham Vandermeer had his sides done by Billy Gowers, but I’m not sure I’ll put my faith in Billy Gowers with the clippers,” he told ABC Grandstand.
At Carlton, assistant coach John Barker is known as “Johnny Barber”.
“I’m running with this pretty ordinary mohawk at the moment. Everyone was taking the piss out of me for 12 months,” Michael Gibbons said on Triple M.
“But now they’re all running the same haircut, so look who’s laughing now.”
Tiger Mabior Chol had his bright red streak done before leaving for the Gold Coast hub.
“I just wanted to try something different,” he said on Fox Footy.
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“Paul Pogba (Manchester United player), obviously he’s someone who inspired me with his hairstyle and I really enjoyed what he was doing with his hair, so I wanted to try something over the isolation break. I probably won’t excite people too much, but I think I have something awesome coming up soon, so just stay tuned and hopefully everyone will like the next hairstyle I come up with.”
Not everyone is happy about the new look. Dual premiership coach Denis Pagan joked Max Gawn wouldn’t have got away with his hairstyle under his watch.
“I tell you what, he’d be starting on the bench if I was coaching,” Pagan told the Sunday Footy Show.
“I was coached by a hard taskmaster, you weren’t even allowed to have beards with Ron Barassi.
“When I see some of the players with buns on their heads, you shake your head and think, ‘Gee, what are we doing?’.”
Bit one player can’t blame anyone else — or the AFL hubs — for his ’do.
“I cut my own hair,” Bulldog Bailey Smith told Channel 7. “I haven’t cut the back, that’s why it’s so long, because I don’t know how to do that.
“I just cut the top, shave the sides a little bit — yeah, no idea, to be honest.
“That’s the beauty of it, I have no plan whatsoever.”
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