It’s Aotearoa’s comeback and sometimes controversial coiffure, traditionally paired with Thunderstruck by AC/DC, cans of Cody’s and cars with questionable modifications.
For 14-year-old Nelson College student Ryder Taulilo, it was business in the front and charity at the back, growing a mullet to brush up funds for Nelson Tasman Hospice, which cared for his late great uncle.
At first, it was a sweepover cut before Ryder’s mother Bryar converted it into the makings of a voluminous blonde mullet in 2021.
Like former mulleted All Black centre Jack Goodhue, his hairstyle grew admirers at his rugby games, and he even got a fist pump from a stranger at a Wellington McDonald’s for it.
On the pitch though, there were more hairy moments, with opponents yanking it when they came into contact.
Ryder also podiumed at a mullet contest at the Moutere Hop in 2024 and embraced his look further by impersonating a bogan for Halloween.
Bryar says she’d volunteered for Nelson Tasman Hospice and tapped her son on the shoulder to use his mullet to raise money for the palliative care organisation which relies on public donations to carry out its services.
A Givealittle page for Ryder’s cause surpassed its $1000 mark around 25 days after it unfurled, and will remain open until 19 September.
“I was pretty surprised. I didn’t think we could actually get there, [the funds] will help people,” Ryder said of the result. “I just liked the haircut, and then started fundraising for it, because I thought it would be good. It’s better than chopping it off and getting nothing.”
Ryder’s natural neck shelter climaxed on Sunday when it was snipped by Nelson College home barber Cooper Dean.
His leftover hairs will be donated to Freedom Wigs, a Dunedin-based company that uses unprocessed human hair to craft customised prosthetic hair pieces for individuals experiencing extensive hair loss.
Visit: givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/chopping-the-mullet-for-nelson-tasman-hospice to donate to Ryder’s cause.
