Sydney Swan’s footballer Kieren Jack is determined to keep his Frownlow ambitions silent, considering the strength of the opposition and the prestige of the award.
Like every great AFL goal sneak, he planned to slip away from his marker, creep up on his opponents and appear from seemingly out of nowhere to snatch the medal before disappearing into the night.
How did he do this?
…by making his bid on Twitter.
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.
Jack played out a family feud between his parents and his girlfriend on the very public social media platform, which has become every footballer’s second home and has already landed other Australian based footballers in trouble and earned them nominations for The Frownlow Medal and The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
Two of Jack’s main rivals for the inter-code award fell victim to social media, as Sydney Roosters NRL player Mitchell Pearce was filmed befriending a dog, while Parramatta Eels half, Corey Norman, was photographed dining with criminals and was reportedly filmed being very friendly with a young woman, before and after being caught with illicit drugs.
All three will learn their fate in October, upon the official announcement of The Frownlow Medallist and the inductees into The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
First published in July 2016.
Image: Nuna
The Frownlow Medal 