Nick Kyrgios. Say no more. The mere utterance of his name was enough to earn AFL player Taylor Walker his first Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame nomination.
Kyrgios helped shoot Taylor into stardom with a very classy twitter entente which exemplified the Tennis player’s class and sophistication and placed the Adelaide Crows captain in contention for Frownlow honours.
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.
The exchange began in late 2015, when Kyrgios instigated a conversation which he knew would propel them both into the media spot light. He then blasted the Frownlow Medal judging panel for taking so long to nominate Walker, returning to social media with a long list of terms which are unsuitable for publication.
Walker expressed his gratitude towards Kyrgios for his assistance in securing the nomination and for the fact that Kyrgios is not a footballer and is thus not in direct competition with Walker for Frownlow Hall of Fame induction.
“…then no one would have a chance.” he said.
First published in June 2016.
Image: Nuna
The Frownlow Medal 