Collingwood Magpies AFL star Dane Swan is fighting with Essendon’s Jobe Watson to become the first player in history to win both the Brownlow and Frownlow Medal.
2011 Brownlow victor, Swan, burst into contention with his efforts to promote positive body image with an artful nude photo spread in Australia’s pre-eminent bastion of rigorous journalism, Woman’s Day, while Watson was nominated following calls for him to hand back the medal he won in 2012.
The Frownlow Medal is awarded to the player whose off field demeanour epitomises the values of the modern day footballer and draws attention to the status of footballers as role models to young Australians. It covers Australia’s four major football codes; the National Rugby League (NRL), Australian Football League (AFL), the A-League (Football) and Rugby Union’s Super Rugby competition. The first medal was awarded to Sydney Roosters and New Zealand representative Shaun Kenny-Dowall in 2015.
The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame honours former players who receive media attention for similarly scandalous behaviour and its inductees include Ben Cousins and Todd Carney.
“Stoked to be nominated, already got a place for a Frownlow Tat”, tweeted Swan, before giving full credit to the boys, and an anonymous woman.
Swan and his fellow nominees will find out in October if they have done enough to be crowned 2016 Frownlow Medallist.
First published in June 2016.
Image: Nuna
The Frownlow Medal 