Mark Hughes knows what teamwork can achieve from his role in the 1997 and 2001 Newcastle Knights premiership winning teams and the former Origin centre is bringing together brain cancer researchers to find a cure for the deadly disease.
The Mark Hughes Foundation hopes to add another $3.5 million to the $24 million already raised since the NRL’s Beanie for Brain Cancer Round began seven years ago with the one millionth MHF beanie set to be sold this week.
The money from the sale of the $25 beanies will go towards employing more researchers at The Mark Hughes Foundation Brain Cancer Centre but Hughes believes the search for a cure could be sped up through collaboration.
“There's no cure for brain cancer and we must change that, for me, and for so many others out there,” Hughes said at the launch of Beanies for Brain Cancer Round.
“We have research happening and we just need to accelerate that. We're building a team right across Australia and it doesn't happen without funding, and it doesn't have to be about awareness.
“I was always a team player, and we want team-work. We want collaboration, so share ideas. Don't keep nothing to yourself.”
Hughes, who played three Origins for NSW and 161 premiership matches for the Knights, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2013 and is one of just 20 per cent of survivors who manage to live longer than five years.
In Australia, brain cancer kills more children than any other disease and more people under 40 than any other cancer.
“We've got to get these answers and we are working really hard towards that,” Hughes said.
“We've got lots of papers, we’ve got lots of work done and we've got a bio bank with all of these tumours for our researchers to use.
“It's not going to happen overnight. Nothing has changed in 30 or 40 years of brain cancer [research], but we're changing that.
“While we would like answers today, we haven't got that but our team are very excited that with the different streams of research that they've got going we can get the answers to this thing.”
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said Beanie for Brain Cancer Round united the game as the rugby league community came together to support The Mark Hughes Foundation.
“What this round represents is actually very special,” Abdo said. “The Mark Hughes Foundation has raised $24 million and it is just phenomenal how it gets bigger and bigger each year. That's the power of sport.
“We're a community and whilst we might play on the field against each other, when we work together off the field, we achieve amazing things and Beanies for Brain Cancer Round is a great example of that.
“Mark Hughes is a real inspiration, and we want more people like Mark Hughes overcoming brain cancer. This is something we all have a vested interest in.
“We have Channel Nine, Fox Sports, all of our media partners and everyone inside the game, everyone at all 17 clubs, contributing and moving in the same direction.”
Beanies will be available online from all Lowes Australia stores, participating NSW/QLD/ACT IGA Australia stores or online at www.markhughesfoundation.com.au.