Former NRL player Martin Kennedy has been nominated for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame after being arrested at his Bondi home for involvement in an international wildlife smuggling ring.
Suspicious Bondi locals alerted police to the fact that the ex-Roosters and Broncos player rarely wore ‘speedos’ to the beach and the subsequent investigation revealed he was, in fact, smuggling wildlife.
It is not yet known if police seized a rooster or an energetic horse in the raid.
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. Kiwi international and Sydney Roosters player Shaun Kenny-Dowall won the inaugural medal in 2015, while Corey Norman from the Parramatta Eels won in 2016.
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.
Kenendy is still actually serving a suspension from the NRL for breaching the anti-doping policy and for trying to delete evidence of his wrong-doing from his phone.
Police were quick to squash any vicious and unsubstantiated rumours that Kennedy supplied a very prominent Rooster with the dog which earned that player a nomination for the 2016 Frownlow.
Kennedy now faces tough opposition for a place in the Hall of Fame from ex-footballers who have been charged with offences such as a drunken bromantic tiff, armed robbery, a street brawl and even the rape of a 14-yr-old girl.
Image:Nuna
First published in March 2017.
The Frownlow Medal 