Jim and Andrew Krakouer are battling fellow Aussie Rules stars Roger and Daniel Kerr to become the first father and son duo to be inducted into The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
The retired footballing families enjoyed glittering off-field careers which saw their names splashed across the media before, during and after their illustrious football careers.
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 and players who received media attention in previous seasons, for similarly scandalous behaviour, and its inductees include Ben Cousins and Todd Carney.
Jim Krakouer began his bid for Hall of Fame induction in 1974 when he was imprisoned for rape as a 15-year-old. The former North Melbourne and St. Kilda player was also charged with dangerous driving causing death and served more time in prison, in 1996, for his involvement in an amphetamines trafficking scheme.
Son Andrew also served time in prison in an effort to impress Frownlow judges, but the Richmond and Collingwood player chose the crime of assault causing grievous bodily harm.
While the Krakouers’ record is impressive, they did not commit any of these acts together, unlike the Kerrs.
West Australians Roger and Daniel combined to apparently defend Daniel’s sister at a party and were both eventually charged with assault.
This, however, is the extent of Roger’s off-field controversy and their Hall of Fame prospects lie with the extensive list of incidents involving Daniel.
The first incident involves Ben Cousins.
Mere association with the first ever Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame inductee augurs well for Daniel, especially since the incident involved Daniel pushing Cousins down the stairs and breaking his arm.
Daniel was then charged with forging a prescription for valium before being charged with disorderly conduct after an intoxicated attack on a taxi and its driver in 2007.
In the same year, Daniel made another concerted bid to be honoured in the Hall of Fame when he was recorded in a phone conversation with convicted drug dealer Shane Waters.
For some players chasing Frownlow glory, this would have sufficed, but Daniel’s fighting spirit, and the knowledge that his father’s eligibility is tenuous, considering Roger never technically played in the AFL, motivated Daniel to strive even harder for off-field notoriety.
So in 2010, he was fined for assaulting a teenager and then in 2014 made his final push for glory when he allegedly set fire to a small house with two people inside.
The happy families will find out in October if they have succeeded in their bid to be inducted into The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
First published in August 2016.
Image: Nuna
The Frownlow Medal 