The West Coast Eagles AFL club has become the first Australian sporting club to be nominated for The Frownlow Medal.
The mighty yellow and blue of Perth achieved this rare honour after posting a racist tweet referring to the club jersey as the ‘yellow peril’.
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 Eagles were quick to apologise for the comment but not before the judges of The Frownlow Medal could add the club to the growing list of potential award winners.
The club is now in contention for Australia’s only inter code award, and prizes including free modern history classes at any local evening college.
First published in April 2016.
Image: Nuna
The Frownlow Medal 