Former Carlton AFL player Nick Stevens and his girlfriend lead the band of public urinators, drug dealers, prisoners and a coach’s wife to be nominated for induction into The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
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.
NRL and AFL wife beaters head the list for 2016.
Stevens captains the team which includes NRL players Robert Lui, Anthony Watts and Isaac Gordon. Stevens’ odds shortened when his current girlfriend, Amelia Miller, attacked the victim of his abuse via social media.
Sydney Roosters winger Blake Ferguson also assaulted a woman on his way to a nomination, but damaged his chances of induction by stating that he restricts himself to blondes.
Ferguson joins a group of 2016 State of Origin players, including his NSW captain Paul Gallen and team mates Josh Dugan, Greg Romance Bird, Dylan Walker, Jack Bird and Queenslanders Sam Virgin Thaiday and Nate Squatter Myles.
Romance Bird urinated on a police car the day after his wedding, to add his name to a list of public urinators which includes Anthony Tupou, Anthony Watmough, Terence Seu Seu, Gallen, Willie Mason, Sonny Bill Williams and the Master Urinator, 2015 Hall of Fame inductee, Carney.
Romance did not, however, damage a taxi or its driver, and this could be his downfall. Taxi abuse earned nominations for Mason, Reni Maitua and Jake Friend, plus AFL players Micheal Hurely, Jarrad Grant, Daniel Kerr and Trent Dumont.
The battle for the Frownlow’s foremost family rages between the father and son combinations of AFL stars Daniel and Roger Kerr and Jim and Andrew Krakouer, whose fame stems from incidents such as drug dealing, assault and imprisonment. Jail time also earned NRL player Russell Packer his nomination.
Beau Ryan is on the list for a racist attempt at comedy on the Rugby League Footy Show, but just like in his playing career – he is simply there.
The other man’s wife is Nicole McGregor, the better half of drink-driving St George-Illawarra coach Paul. Nicole strengthened her husband’s nomination when she publicly criticised Dragons players at a post match function.
The one common denominator of almost every nomination?
Alcohol.
The full list of nominees, valid at date of publication, is included below.
| Name | Code | Club | Action | |
| John Hopoate | NRL | Manly, | Inserting his fingers into players’ private areas, banned from coaching Manly junior teams, charged with assaulting someone in a supermarket, played low grade Rugby Union under a false name, verbally abused a touch judge, verbally abused a ball boy, sacked by Manly, charged with assault at King’s Cross while working as an RSA marshall, guilty of intimidating a parking officer. | 1 |
| Billy Brownless | AFL | Geelong Cats | Wife slept with Lyon | 2 |
| Garry Lyon | AFL | Melbourne Demons | Slept with Brownless’ wife | 3 |
| Paul McGregor | NRL | St George Illawarra Coach/ Illawarra Steelers player | Drink Driving | 4 |
| Grant Hackett | AFL | Collingwood | Drunk and disorderly on a plane, helped off the plane by Collingwood ///, accused of domestic violence, history of alcohol abuse.. | 5 |
| Paul Gallen | NRL | Cronulla Sharks, NSW, AUS | Urinating in Public, racism, misuse of twitter | 6 |
| Josh Dugan | NRL | Canberra Raiders, St George Illawarra Dragons, NSW, AUS | Misuse of social media, intoxication, | 7 |
| Blake Ferguson | NRL | Canberra Raiders, Sydney Roosters, NSW | Charged with assault, intoxication, misuse of social media. | 8 |
| Greg Bird | NRL | Cronulla Sharks, Gold Coast Titans | Urinating on a police car the day after his wedding. | 9 |
| Nate Myles | NRL | Sydney Roosters, Gold Coast Titans, Manly Sea Eagles. | Intoxication, public nakedness and defecation in the corridor of a hotel. | 10 |
| Beau Ryan | NRL | Wests Tigers, Cronulla Sharks | Racist joke on Channel Nine Footy Show. | 11 |
| Stephen Hoiles | Rugby Union | NSW Waratahs, Wallabies | Sexually suggestive question to Eddie Jones at press conference after Wallabies v. England. | 12 |
| Willie Mason | NRL | Canterbury Bulldogs, North Queensland Cowboys, Newcastle Knights, Sydney Roosters, Manly Sea Eagles | Ran from a taxi to avoid paying fare, tested positive to illicit drugs, forged another player’s signature at an autograph event, broke curfew, televised swearing during the Haka, voted most hated NRL player by fans in 2007, verbally challenged a female reporter, charged with public urination 2008 and 2009 | 13 |
| Reni Maitua | NRL | Canterbury Bulldogs, ….. | Arrested for drink driving while on P Plates, sacked by Bulldogs for failing to attend training, tested positive to a banned substance, assaulted taxi driver, involved in a nightclub brawl in Brisbane. Attempted to commit suicide. | 14 |
| Jake Friend | NRL | Sydney Roosters | Being drunk and falling asleep in a taxi, assaulting taxi driver, refusing to pay fare. | 15 |
| Michael Hurley | AFL | Essendon Bombers | Arrested for drunken assault of a taxi driver after refusing to pay fare while on his way to Hungry Jacks. | 16 |
| Daniel Kerr | AFL | West Coast Eagles | Involved in brawl with Ben Cousins, borke Cousins’ arm, charged with forging a prescription to valium, charged with assault alongside his father, arrested for assaulting taxi driver, accused of drug dealing, assaulted a teenager, arrested for starting a house fire. | 17 |
| Anthony Watts | NRL | Cronulla Sharks, North Queensland Cowboys | Assaulting a man at a wedding, assault of his former partner, drug possession, imprisonment, membership of a bikie gang, drunken brawl while on parole, biting the penis of an opposing player. | 18 |
| Trent Dumont | AFL | North Melbourne | Charged with aggravated robbery of a taxi driver in Adelaide in 2014 | 19 |
| Robert Lui | NRL | Wests Tigers, North Queensland Cowboys | Charged with numerous counts of domestic violence | 20 |
| Tony Armstrong | AFL | Adelaide Crows, Sydney Swans, Collingwood Magpies | Sent nude photos to a woman via social media. Photos later appeared in Woman’s Day. | 21 |
| Anthony Tupou | NRL | Sydney Roosters, Cronulla Sharks | Public urination. | 22 |
| Amelia Miller | AFL | Current girlfriend of Nick Stevens | Launched a social media attack of Nick Stevens former partner. | 23 |
| Kurtley Beale | Rugby Union | NSW Waratahs, Melbourne Rebels, Wallabies, Wasps | Attended rehabilitation for alcohol related issues in, sent home from South Africa for ill-discipline in 2013, punished for sending offensive texts to team official in 2014. | 24 |
| Danny Cipriani | Rugby Union | Melbourne Rebels, England, Wasps | Accused of stealing a bottle of vodka from behind a bar in Melbourne. Regular incidents of off-field ill-discipline while at Rebels. | 25 |
| Jim Krakouer | AFL | North Melbourne Kangaroos, St Kilda Saints | Imprisoned for rape, guilty of dangerous driving causing death, imprisoned for drug trafficking | 26 |
| Andrew Krakouer | AFL | Richmond Tigers, Collingwood Magpies | Charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm, found guilty of assault and served time in prison. | 27 |
| Roger Kerr | AFL | East Fremantle, Port Adelaide (SANFL) | Charged with assault | 28 |
| Dave Taylor | NRL | Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Queensland, Australia, Catalans Dragons | Pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine. | 29 |
| Joe Vickery | NRL | Gold Coast Titans, St George Dragons, Leeds Rhinos | Pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine. | 30 |
| Jamie Dowling | NRL | Gold Coast Titans | Pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine. | 31 |
| Nicole McGregor | NRL | Wife of Paul McGregor, coach of St George Illawarra Dragons. | Verbally criticised St George players about their recent form at a post-match presentation. | 32 |
| Lachie Keefe | AFL | Collingwood Magpies | Naked selfies of him were published in Woman’s Day. | 33 |
| Nick Stevens | AFL | Carlton | Jailed for repeated abuse of former partner. | 34 |
| Julian O’Neill | NRL | Brisbane Broncos, Western Reds, South Sydney Rabbitohs, North Queensland Cowboys | Urinated under a blackjack table, indecent exposure, sacked by Brisbane Broncos for drink-driving, sacked by London Broncos for drink-driving, sacked by Western Reds after being disqualified from driving, defecated in a teammate’s shoe, drunkenly set fire to a 13-year-old bot in a dolphin suit on a river cruise, stripped to his underwear, jumped into the river, swam to shore, hitched a ride to town- to avoid apprehension. | 35 |
| Anthony Watmough | NRL | Manly Sea Egales, Parramatta Eels | Public urination, abused a club sponsor’s 21-year-old daughter, punched a club sponsor, trashed a hotel room. AVO taken out against him. | 36 |
| Terence Seu Seu | NRL | Manly Sea Eagles, Newcastle Knights, Cronulla Sharks | Public urination | 37 |
| Sam Newman | AFL | Geelong Cats | Misogynistic rant against female journalist on the AFL Footy Show. | 38 |
| Robert Dipierdomenico | AFL | Hawthorn Eagles | Tweeted his condolences about the death of Ben Cousins. | 39 |
| Russel Packer | NRL | St. George-Illawarra Dragons, Auckland Warriors | Assaulted a man in Sydney CBD, served time in prison, fined $15,000 for urinating on the field | 40 |
| Isaac Gordon | NRL | Cronulla Sharks | Domestic violence of pregnant partner. | 41 |
| Sonny Bill Williams | NRL/Rugby Union | Who hasn’t he played for? | Public urination, filmed in a dalliance with Candice Falzon in a toilet cubicle at The Clovelly Hotel, low range drink driving conviction, walked out of contract with Canterbury Bulldogs, using a Samoan passport to exit Australia. | 42 |
| Jarrad Grant | AFL | Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast Suns | Opened the door of a moving taxi late at night in Hong Kong in 2010. | 43 |
Image: Nuna
First published in August 2016.
The Frownlow Medal 